Thursday, December 28, 2006

uuuuhhhh

Stomach...Flu....Sucks... :(

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

I'm ready, I'm ready, IIIIIIIII'm Ready!

This morning, I went to the church to get the bulletins printed and folded for this coming Sunday's service. I went early so that I could get help from the treasurer if I needed it, considering I'm not really comfortable with the "new" copy machine. I only use it about once a month when I'm copying the minutes for the council meeting. But, I had an idea. I went, had no trouble figuring out how to use the "bypass" function, and got the bulletins all printed out. I was planning on sitting there and folding the bulletins, but the treasurer told me that we have an automatic folder! I had no idea! Back in the day, Pastor used to have the confirmation kids do it. :) Hehe. But the only problem was that the treasurer didn't know how to make it work. I went into the storage room where it is stored (I always wondered what that thing was!) and I looked it over, put the paper at the top, and found the switch. That's how it works. It's set to the right folds and everything. That machine is about the neatest thing I've used in a while. I'm very easily amused. :) So that whole business only took me about 15-20 minutes, although I got into some conversation with some ladies who were there. But, all is well. I'm ready for Sunday. I'm excited!

Monday, December 25, 2006

Smiles

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I did, although my family isn't done celebrating yet. We're having our family get together on Thursday because one of my brothers works at a prison. Prisons don't close for the holidays, and Thursday is one of his days off. So, the family will be coming here to celebrate. I'm excited.

Today was not completely left to the ordinary, though. Sis and BiL had me, younger sis (YS) and YS's boyfriend (YSB) over this early afternoon so we could do our gift exchange. In my family, for the past several years, we've drawn names and only had to buy for our person, Mom, Grandma, and the kids still in high school or younger. But, we sisters like to have a private gift exchange just because we're all really close. I got a lot of great stuff that will come in handy when I move to my dorm room. I went in with YS and got Sis and BiL a digital camcorder so they can videotape Howard as he grows. I'm excited about that. Sis and I went in together and got YS a massage table because she is going to school to become a massage therapist and hasn't been able to find the money to purchase the table yet. I'm excited about that gift, too.

Then tonight, Mom came over to Sis and BiL's house and Mom, Sis, BiL, Howard, and I trekked across town to BiL's sister's house where we had Christmas dinner. That family is so welcoming that I am just continually amazed by them. I was sitting on one of the couches watching a movie on T.V. with them when BiL's sister came up to me and asked if I'd like to share the prayer. (Remember, I shared the Thanksgiving prayer last month?) So, I said, "Sure, I can do that." So, I got up, walked into the kitchen and asked if everyone was ready. They were, and so I said the prayer. Sis always expresses her surprise when we're alone at my ability to say "good" prayers off the cuff. She says, "I guess you probably are going into the right field." This always makes me laugh. Anyway, that's about all I have to say now. Down below is basically what I said this evening (remembering, again, that these prayers are not rehearsed prior to the delivery of them, and so there is NO way I could remember them verbatim). Have a good rest of your Christmas season, and stay safe if you're on the road.

Christmas Prayer 12-25-06
Holy God, we give You thanks this day for the many gifts we have received.
We pray especially in thanksgiving for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ.
While we know we can never repay You for Your boundless generosity,
we pray that our lives might reflect thanks and praise
knowing that every good gift we receive is from Your hand.
Help us to live lives of gratitude and service,
through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I know it's not officially Christmas for another few hours, but I plan on going to bed here shortly. I'm tired. This morning, I got to be the assisting minister again, and it went well. I'm getting better at it, I think. Then tonight, at our annual candle light Christmas Eve worship, I got to be the lay leader again. It went well again tonight. I even got compliments. But, Christmas Eve worship is really awesome. I think that Pastor does a really good job of planning and executing the worship service.

Now, I'm finishing up my preparations for next Sunday. I printed up the bulletin, and now I have to go on Tuesday to copy it a whole bunch of times. It's my first time doing that part of preparing, but I gotta learn sometime.

Oh, yeah, and a funny little story... This morning in the sermon, Pastor spoke about how next Sunday is going to be the last time I lead worship before going off to study at Seminary. So then, after worship, we walked to the back while finishing the closing hymn so that we could shake hands. Actually, he had to leave to go to OC (other church) and I stayed to shake hands. But, two of the ushers said, "We're going to MISS you!" And I laughed because one is a mid-teenage boy, and I don't really know how old the other one is. He's probably a teenager too, but I don't know how old. And then they each gave me a hug and I laughed, because I figured they wouldn't care one way or the other. And the one whose age I don't know is fairly new to our congregation because he and his mom just moved here from Arizona or something. His grandparents are longtime members, though. So, it was just nice to hear that people don't hate when I help lead worship. :)

And, one last bit of news... Tonight, after the worship service, Pastor and I went back to the makeshift sacristy (the real one is really cold this time of year, so we use the storage room) to take our albs off. He asked me about a definite move date and I told him probably January 14th, after worship, if that's allowed. He said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to have that alb there cleaned up so that I can give it to you. It seems to fit you well." So, I thought that was SO nice. It was Pastor's first alb, and he has other ones now and doesn't need this one. I thought that was cool. Pastor's a cool guy and I'm sure glad that he is our pastor. If we had a minister who didn't care, I doubt I would be where I am today. Thanks be to God for raising up dedicated, encouraging, and faithful leaders for the Church!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

I guess we're bad, bad people for celebrating Christmas

I was working on my message for next Sunday and was trying to find some information on a hymn. In my searches on the Internet, I stumbled across a website that says "Christmas is spiritual adultery... God is highly offended at your (Christmas celebraters) whorish ways." Yikes... Who knew that praising and thanking God for the wonderful and irreplaceable gift of Jesus Christ was "whorish?" I guess you can call me Sluticia, then, because Christmas is special to me.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Worship Planning

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that Pastor and his family are going out of town after Christmas Eve worship, and thus I get to lead worship on the 31st. I'm excited. I like leading worship. The interesting thing this time is that I am planning the whole service. I think I might be in slightly over my head. He gave me a guide I could use, so I might just take that route. We'll just have to see. At least it's going to be the season of Christmas with all the Christmas songs and everything, though, so that's good.

After worship planning, I came home and piddled around the house a little bit. I had to visit the doctor today. I try to avoid the doctor like no other, because I'm generally a pretty healthy person, despite some health problems that will be with me until I die. But, I do take daily medicine, so I "need" to see a doctor a few times a year and have some blood tests and what not. I went to the doctor and they needed several vials of blood from me, but for some reason, my veins weren't giving it up today. That is weird, because I'm a bleeder. I have three bruises now; one on the inside of my elbow, and one on each hand. I guess it's a good thing needles don't bother me... Hehe. Anyway, I need to go now to try to figure out what I'm doing for next Sunday. That will be sermon number 19. I'm excited! See ya.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Oh yeah!

Hehe... This past Sunday, some gal pals from high school and I got together for our annual Christmas celebration. In years past, we have gotten together on New Year's Day, but as we grow, our schedules make it so that we have to get together at different times because our schedules are different.

For our celebration, we buy one gift, and then when we get there, we devise a system of finding who gets what gift. This year, the gift I received was this set from Starbucks. It's got three layers. In each layer is a bag of flavored coffee beans, and then some form of chocolate that compliments the flavor of coffee. While I'm not that big of a coffee drinker, I'm still very excited because I can lure people into my dorm room with gourmet coffee!! I just need a coffeepot now, I suppose. But, my sister in law got me this thing for graduation that froths milk up in a matter of seconds, so that could be a good thing for me to put in the coffee. Anyway, I'm excited, and that's the main thing. Plus, Sunday was really cool. I love getting together with my friends. It's so neat to see the different paths we are all taking, and the different places we find ourselves. Some are married, some are engaged, one has what I consider to be a budding romance, and then some (by some, I mean me) are single. :) And we are all doing different things with our lives, and it's just so fun to come together and have some time and just catch up and have fun and play board games and eat Jacki's mom's cookies! Haha. And that's that. It was good.

Whirlwind!

Wow, I've been kinda busy the last few days. Graduation cards and congratulations keep coming, and I'm just amazed that people are so generous and caring. It's nice. On that front, I started working on my Thank You cards, but I ran out and had to buy more. But, I bought them in Sis and BiL's town, and spent a day or two with them. I went on Monday and ended up going to their house and staying.

Monday, Sis and BiL had met for lunch on their breaks. When Sis came home after work and picking up "Howard" she asked if I could feed him because she wasn't feeling well. She wasn't sure if she was sick or if the... (Oh, sidenote... Sis is pregnant again!!) baby was making her nauseated. So, I fed Howard. BiL came home and hung out some. Poor Sis was laying in the bathroom because she was not well... I'll spare you the details. Then, an hour or two later, BiL started feeling bad too. Guess they got some bad food or something. So, they were trying to take care of Howard, but they didn't feel good. I told them to go to bed and I'd take care of him. So, they went up to bed and Howard and I played for a little while before he started to fuss. I started feeding him his bottle but he wasn't interested, so I just held him and he fell asleep with his head on my shoulder. There's not much better in the world than a baby falling asleep on you. :) In my humble opinion, anyway. Plus, he doesn't do that much anymore now that he's a big boy at 8 months... The good news is that they are both feeling better now, and Sis, Howard, and I went to town tonight. I was able to finish my Christmas shopping. I'm glad. I hate shopping.

Yesterday, I had an interview at a hospital in Iowa to get into the CPE program. I drove out there and was interviewed and it went really well, I think. They liked my answers to questions they posed, and the interviewers were both wonderful people. I am fairly confident that they will extend an invitation for me to join this unit. I'm excited. There are still some options out there, but I think CPE is the one I will go for. I learn best by doing, and CPE will offer that, most definitely.

Other than that, I'm going to meet with Pastor tomorrow at the church where we will do some worship planning for December 31st. I'm leading because Pastor and his family go on vacation the week after Christmas. I've never actually planned the worship service before, so I'm interested to see how that will work out. It'll be nice though, because we're still going to be singing Christmas songs and people sing pretty loud when we sing Christmas songs. Yay! And that's about all I have to say now, because I need to do some stuff before I go to bed, and I am getting tired. See ya later.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Bummer Rescinded

I forgot to tell you all.. A few weeks ago, I posted a blog titled "Bummer." It told you about how the dorms were full and I would have to live in an apartment. I emailed the housing director this past week and asked her if there was anything I needed to do because I hadn't heard anything back from them in a while. She emailed me and said there was nothing to do in that regard, but she was able to secure me a residence hall room! Yay! And my brother and sister-in law got me an organizer with a BUNCH of stuff I will need, so thanks, guys! (Even though they don't even know this blog exists).

Only one real downer about graduation day, though. My oldest brother (who lives 6 blocks away) didn't come to my open house. That makes me sad and disappointed with him because it seems he can find less and less time to hang out with his family. He's a lot older than the rest of us, but we're still family. You'd think he'd come at least say hi to his little sister on the day she graduated from college. Oh well. Sorry for the griping.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

What a day.

Here I am, diploma (cover) in hand, with all that smart goodness having been bestowed upon me by the powers that be. Actually, though, I won't get my diploma til about March or so. I don't care, whatever. As per usual, I'm going to bore you with just about every boring detail of the day...

I was frantically cleaning my house yesterday/last night, and finally went to bed. Unfortunately, I've had a cold and so I couldn't sleep last night. So, I took some acetaminophen and finally konked out. I set 3 alarms and the first one went off, I bolted upright, shut it off, and sat there jacknifed in my bed for about 2 minutes, watching the numbers tick by. I thought, "Is it really 6:15 already?" So, I got up, got ready, grabbed my cap and gown, and drove to CollegeTown. I parked farther away than I'd thought I was, because I didn't realize that there wasn't a gap between the buildings I needed to get by. I ended up walking for about 10 minutes just to get to the entrance I needed to get to. I got there plenty early though. They started passing out our name cards, and then we went to the next stop, which is the arena in which graduation is held. We were sectioned out according to major, number on our name card (alphabetical) and all that good jazz. I was number 30 and the woman in front of me was, naturally, 29. It's weird, those around me were all Soc. majors, and yet, I didn't know half of them. But anyway, I got to talking to Ms. 29 and it turns out she is a licensed minister! I had no idea. I told her of my plans and she wished me good luck, and also helped me put on those STUPID hats they make graduates wear. It was really neat to meet her. Plus, she was really nice.

After a while, we were told to start going into the actual arena part where the spectators were sitting. We had to open our robes first so the powers that be could make sure we were not packing any alcohol or something. So, we zipped back up and processed to our chairs. After we were all seated, there was a bunch of blah blah blah-ing, and clapping, and what not. The Doctorates were awarded first, then the Masters degrees, and finally they got to the undergrads. Because Sociology is the 3rd to the last major alphabetically, we were toward the back. I couldn't really see what was going on, but surprisingly, I was not very nervous at all. The marshall came and told our row to go. So, we started walking up there. We got to the end of the bleachers where the band was (you can't see back there from the majority of the arena) and there were pro photographers taking pictures. I wasn't expecting that, either. They threw all these instructions at us and I didn't hear a word the lady said. But, I got my photo taken and went into the line again. Then, we get closer and someone was taking the name cards so those announcing could read our names and any special distinctions we had (I had none) and we could walk across the stage and get our diploma (covers). So, they started saying my name, I walked, shook hands, held the diploma, and had my photo taken again. Then, I walked down the steps. Well, you should know that my school has two people saying the names; one on each side of the platform. Sociology was my side, obviously, and the other side was a different major. So, I walked down and saw a bunch of Soc. professors. The first one was a really cool guy I had my 2nd to last semester. He gave me a hug and said to keep in touch. I said, "It's been nice knowing you." and he said, "Make sure to visit!" and then I shook another profs hand because I didn't know her. Then, I saw another prof I knew and she gave me a hug and said congratulations and I said "Thanks Dr. X!" and then I shook hands with the rest of the people.

Now... Hehe. One of the problems with the hugging is that I'm not really much of a hugger. I value my personal space and up until recently I didn't really even like people to touch me at all. But, I guess I'm changing because today, the hugs made me feel special and loved. But, the other problem with the hugging is that the profs didn't hug all the soc majors that came down. I guess I really am special. :) hehe. So the problem was that the hugging took a little while and I didn't see where the person ahead of me went. It was all happening so fast that I started to return to my seat down the wrong side aisle, (There were two; one for our side of the platform and one for the other side) so I had to step back, and then I thought, "Am I going the right way?" and then I kind of waffled back and forth for a few seconds before heading down MY aisle toward my seat. I felt like such a complete idiot! But, I returned to my seat and then everyone else did their thing and that was that. Then, there was a bunch more blah blah blah-ing and finally we got to process out. My family told me they would not be waiting for me outside; that I should just start for home so we could get the house and food all the way ready and what not. But, I stayed and talked to some friends for a few minutes and then decided to leave. Getting out of the parking lot was difficult, but a kind person saw me in my car, lipped "Are you trying to get out?" and when I nodded yes, they let me out. (Ah the benefits of not taking the robe off to drive home!)

Anyway, I got home and we got the stuff ready and waited for people. At 2:00, (the time the invitation said) people started coming. Pastor and his wife came and they each gave me a hug and handed me a bag of gifts, and my aunt and uncle from the burbs came, and a whole bunch of people. Even a few church folk came.. I was expecting a few more than the couple who came, but that's ok. People are busy. But, I felt bad because I didn't get to talk to Pastor and his wife really while they were there because they went in and were talking to others while I was meeting, greeting, and conversing with those who were coming in. About 15 or 20 minutes later, Pastor and his wife came back out and said they had to be going because they had to go stir meat for another congregant's party (He graduated at the 1:00 ceremony). They gave me a hug bye and said congrats and all that good stuff. Several family friends and relatives, and a few of my own dear friends came, too. It was a wonderful day, for which I am extremely grateful. (Although I NEVER did get "bouncing off the walls" excited; I'm slightly disappointed).

After everyone left, I started opening the cards and gifts that people so generously bestowed on me. I'm always amazed at the generosity people show. I appreciate everything, especially reading the wonderful cards that were given to me. I love cards with handwritten notes of support and encouragement. I'm a sucker for them. This little lady with whom I worked wrote me a very touching note in her card and it just made me miss her all that much more, considering I no longer work there. Pastor and his wife gave me a bag of stuff and I was curious about what was in there, but I opened it last. There was a card with a wonderful note in it, two books with notes on the first pages of each, and the thing I let out a little laugh of joy for: A MySeminary sweatshirt! Haha! I'm such a bum and I'm always bumming around in sweatshirts, and they got me one! But like I said, I am just truly touched by the generosity, love, and support I have been shown these last few weeks and I am excited to write out thank you notes to those who helped share in this special day with me. I wish there was a way to put the feelings in my heart into their hearts so they could know exactly how much they all mean to me.

Once I finished recording the gifts, I started watching some VH1 and I fell asleep with a major headache because I hadn't eaten all day because I was just not in the mood to eat. And then I woke up when Ma turned the T.V. off. I said, "I'm watching that!" lol. And now, I find myself blogging about the whole day, and just being moved (to echo the presiding feeling of the last few weeks, I will add: almost to tears) by all the emotion and love. I am so truly thankful that people care enough to take time out of their schedules, to write handwritten notes, to talk with me, and just share in life. It's amazing. Community is a wonderful thing. God has blessed me richly, and I am so very thankful.

Duty Calls ;)

Well, RuthRe tagged me, and I can't let her down, so here we go....

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Egg Nog! My mom makes THE best egg nog on the face of the earth. Yeah for frothy goodness.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? So long as I'm not the one wrapping them, it's all good...

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I'm a big fan of the big colored lights. We have always used them, and probably always will. Although, my sister and her boyfriend have a tree with gold lights and silver, purple, and blue ornaments. It all goes very well together.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No. We only ever have family over usually, and who wants to kiss them?

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Well.... I'm bad. I asked Ma to postpone decorating this year because we have too much stuff in the living room anyway. So, I didn't want the house to be ALL that much more crowded for my graduation party today. SO, we need to get crackin' now that it's all over with.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Stuffing, when it's done right.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
You all are going to think I had the worst parents in the world, but it's a fun story... When I was probably about 5 or 6 and my little sister was 4 or 5, we celebrated Christmas at my Grandma's house. Dad gave each of us a teeny weeny little bit of champaign (I'm talking like 2 swallows for a normal person), and I had about 2 sips of it and was totally drunk. So, the best part of the story was that little Sis and I played drunken "Guess Who" (remember that game where you tried to find out which card person the other player had?) on the playroom floor at Granny's. I was very dizzy, but it was fun.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I believed in Santa for a long time because we always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. Mom would take us around in the car to look at Christmas lights while Santa was delivering gifts. Well, we were out in the country and I guess some guy had dressed up as Santa because there he was looking into a window. I could have sworn there were reindeer on the roof, too...

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Up until recently, we opened all of our gifts on Christmas Eve. Now we do it whenever we can all get together.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Handmade school decorations, big colored lights, glass colored globes.. The usual fare.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Dread! As a commuter for the past 4 years, I really started to despise the stuff, although every time it snows pretty, I think of a poem that I might share at some other point.

12. Can you ice skate?
Never tried.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Either my Teddy Ruxpin or my Charlie McCarthy Ventriloquist doll that I BEGGED for.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Being with my friends and family, going to church, and feeling that wonderful warmth of knowing it's not about us.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Peanut Clusters or Fudge!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Christmas Eve worship (for the past several years) and going to Sis's house for Christmas morning breakfast/brunch.

17. What tops your tree?
A classy little angel. It's cute.

18.Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving, even despite my frugal tendencies. I like to give.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yuck. No thanks; not even the fruit flavored ones.

I tag Inheritor of Heaven, Jae, and Jacki, if they are so inclined...

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Saturday is the big day!

I'll be graduating in only 2 days! I can't believe it. The house still isn't all the way clean and I'm slightly freaking. My mom is one of those people who NEVER throws anything away, so I just feel slightly overwhelmed. I have the living room and most of the front porch (facade or foyer, if you so please) looking nice, but there is a lot left to do. I needed a break though, and thus the blogging. I haven't had class all week. My Senior Experience class met last night at a pizza place in CollegeTown. Prof P. bought the pizza; we were just responsible for beverages. I'm a big fan of water, so really, the excursion only cost me in gas! Yay! But, I needed to go anyway to sell my books back. Yeehaw. I also sold back my parking permit today for way more than I thought I'd get. But they SEND that to you, so I went and came home with the same amount of money.. Ah well. I'll probably need a few bucks when it comes in the mail. Ok, well I need to go now. Lots of stuff to do yet! Blessings in your own frenzy!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

I feel weird!

This past Sunday, I didn't go to church at my church. I feel really weird about it. I went to the ELCA church in Sis and BiL's town. Sis is a member of my church, but it's about half an hour away from their house and they don't get to worship as often as they'd like. So, I offered to go with them to the ELCA church in their town, in hopes that they'd like it and be able to go more often. So, we went. I was slightly disappointed though. They didn't have a "regular" worship service because this past Sunday, the Sunday school children put on their program. That took the place of what they usually do.

Now, don't get me wrong; I love children, and I'm glad I got to see their Christmas program. It was nice, because I haven't been able to see a Christmas program at church in a long time. The kids did a pretty good job, even though one of the little shepherds pulled his head covering askew so he could rest his head on his staff and go to sleep on the sly. :) And I realize that if the youth do not feel recognized and important now, odds are they will stop coming to worship in the future. And we don't want that because Jesus was all about inviting the little ones to Him.

On the other hand, this experience helped me realize just how much I appreciate the liturgy, the readings, the prayers, and the sermon. Some people do not like the structure of the average ELCA worship service. I once heard a criticism that it was too structured and left no room for newcomers to feel comfortable. When I was a newcomer, I think that perhaps I didn't like it either, but now I really appreciate all that goes into our worship services.

I'm also slightly disappointed that I didn't get to hear a sermon by a Lutheran pastor not my own. I absolutely LOVE my pastor and I really like his sermons, but his is the first church I've ever really attended. I used to attend Sunday school at the Christian church across from my house, but never really went to worship. Therefore, I was looking forward to hearing someone else's sermon. Oh well. The kids' message came across well, so that's good.

The best news is that Sis and BiL said they'd like to continue to go there. I'm happy. I like when people are led to attend worship regularly. I especially would like them to go more often so that when Nephew gets older, he can attend Sunday school in a regular fashion. I'm one of his Godparents; I gotta look out for the boy! And with that, I'm going to go to bed. I need to get up in the morning and work on cleaning my house. I'm graduating from college in 4!!! days!!! Wow!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

A Meme (because I'm bored)

1. Where will you be when it turns 2007? Probably at Sis and BiL's house. Maybe not. Who knows? I'm just glad I don't have to be at Restaurant!

2. How did you get the idea for your Livejournal name? trishyblogblog or what is going on here? Either way, it was just randomness that came bubbling out of my brain.

3. What song are you listening to right now? The quiet hum of the furnace.

4. Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? Not that I can recall.

5. Do you own an IPOD? No. I have a CD player. That's good enough for me.

6. What's your favorite memory from last weekend? Going on the Bethlehem Walk. Awesome time!

7. What was the first thing you thought this morning? Well, a dream I was having woke me up and it disturbed me, so I thought, "I need to get to the end of this dream." So, I went back to sleep. Too bad I didn't finish that dream though.

8. What would be your ideal job? A vocation where I can help people, but not have people assume I'm stupid (Which is so often the case when a person works in a restaurant).

9. What will you do tonight? Go to bed. But really, if you say "saturday" tonight, I will be going for my last 2 paychecks, delivering some stuff to Pastor and his wife, and hanging out with Sis and BiL.

11. What are the last two digits of your phone number? 37 or 32. One's to my home phone, one is to my cell.

12. What was the last thing you ate? A Fruit 'N Yogurt parfait. The fruit was still frozen.

13. What was last thing you drank? water. They don't call me the water nazi for nothin..

14. What was the last movie you watched? Freeway. It's funny, but there's a lot of F-bombing in it.

15. What/Who do you dislike at the moment? Hmm. The cold I think I'm getting.

16. What food do you crave right now? Nothin. The ol' F&Y parfait hit the spot.

17. What did you dream last night? I had several dreams last night. One was about my work, one was about my church, and one, I have no idea.

18. What was the last TV show you watched? I watched a little bit of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before hitting up P-town to do a little late night shopping.

19. What is your favorite piece of jewelery? I don't wear jewelry. But, when I was baptized when I was 14, my sponsors (Godparents, if you will) got me a really pretty cross necklace. It isn't ostentatious or anything. Simple, just like me.

20. Name someone on top of your Friends who is just like poo. I don't really get this question.

21. You're playing blackjack. You're dealt a jack and a seven. Hit or stay? stay, most likely.

22. Who last text messaged you? I think Britnae. A "Happy Birthday" message.

23. Are you on any medication? Yep. It's GLANDULAR! (that's off some t.v. show I saw one time).

24. What side of the bed do you sleep on? I usually sleep dead center in my own bed. When I sleep at Sis and BiL's house, I sleep on the right side (if you're lying in it facing down).

25. What color shirt are you wearing? I'm wearing my green skydiving shirt and my red sweatshirt. It doesn't match, but at least I'm warm.

26. What is your favorite frozen treat? Moose Tracks ice cream.

27. How many piercings do you have? zero. My ears reject jewelry, despite my efforts to keep the site clean and uninfected.

28. What's your favorite store? I don't really have one. I try to avoid shopping.

29. Are you thirsty right now? Yes, I am.

30. Who's someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? Hmm... Dan, my jr. college friends who went different ways than I did, and my university chums who graduated already.

31. What did you do last night? Hung out, watched some T.V.; nothing really exciting.

32. Do you care what people think about you? Depends if I know you or not.

33. Have you ever done something to instigate trouble? When I was younger. Usually, I try to be a peacemaker, though.

35. What are your font colors on AIM. I don't have AIM.

36. Where do you live? In the same house I've lived for the past 24 years of my life. I'm about to move (probably sooner than I initially thought) and It's freaking me out (just a little).

37. Are you aggressive? Usually not, unless someone threatens those I love. Then I can be.

38. Mobile Phone Network? Verizon.

39. What are you listening to now? The furnace just kicked off, so now all I hear are the keys clicking and the computer humming.

40. What is the thing that you would most like to change about yourself? Some self-esteem issues, probably.

42. What do you smell like right now? Probably nothing. We did have corned beef and cabbage tonight, so I might smell like that.

43. What's your favorite color? neon orange

44. Do you like mustard? Yep, in moderation.

45. What do you tell yourself when times get hard? Dude, what's up with this? (Yes, I often refer to most people, including myself, as "dude." Colloquialism is our friend, remember?)

46. Would you ever sky-dive? Yes, and I have. I blogged about it here.

47. Do you sleep on your side, tummy or back? Usually my tummy. Always have, probably always will.

48. Have you ever bid for something on eBay? Nope, although my brother makes and sells these really neat wine holders on there.

49. What do you think of Cary Grant? My grandma used to be a big fan. But I have no idea who he was, except that he was a movie star.

50. Do you enjoy giving hugs? Hmm. Sometimes, if I know the person well.

51. Would you consider yourself to be fashionable? HAHAHAHA! No way! I'm the girl who hates shopping because I have to take someone with me to ask, "Does this match?" hehe. A quick story... I was at Mal-Wart several months ago because I needed to buy some dress socks. I didn't know if the socks were supposed to match the shoes or the pants. So, I asked an associate. She didn't know either, so we asked another, who told me "It's supposed to all look like one continuous thing." It didn't really help me, but I laugh about it.

52. Do you own a digital camera? No. I'm way too cheap.

53. What celebrities have you been compared to? None.

54. Who is your favorite Star Wars character? I've never really seen Star Wars.

55. Does it annoy you when someone says they'll call but don't? Yup.

56. What are you allergic to? Nothing.

57. Are you a jealous person? Occasionally.

58. Do you ever feel guilty after eating meat? Nope.

59. If you were born the opposite sex, what would your name be? Tyroneus E. Jackson III

60. What are you listening to now? the furnace.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Hmm

Well, I'm sitting here thinking about things, and I've realized that I am scared. Very scared. And I shouldn't be. But I am. That's all for now.

Almost done

Tomorrow is the last day of real class for me at College. I can't believe it. And, I don't HAVE to take any finals because my history prof doesn't make his students take all of them, and my capstone class doesn't have a final. We are presenting our findings from all of our research tomorrow. Well, I'm not in the presenting group, but it's all of our findings. I did a bunch of editing. I can't believe it. We're almost there. I just have this unfounded fear that a member of the faculty who comes to see our presentation is going to heckle us and tell us we did a shoddy job and we're going to fail. I know that's not logical, but I'm one of those, "Can't breath till it's over" people. You know the type. I don't get mean and psychotic, but I'm slightly stressed and grateful that I have chewable Pepto in my car for occasions such as this. :) Hehe. I'm out.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Awesome Event!

Tonight, I went with one of my EX co-workers to this thing called a "Bethlehem Walk." I didn't know what to expect, but I am so glad I went! The thing was awesome! It was held at the ECW's (Ex co-worker) church in a town about 20 miles away. I drove because ECW is 17 and I'm 24 and no offense to teenage drivers, but I'm not digging that. Especially considering the snow and ice we got the other day. Anyway, so we got there and waited around till our "appointment" time because it's a very popular attraction and you have to have tickets for the thing. ECW's mom gave us her tickets because I've never been to the B.W. before. Fortunately though, a lot of people cancelled because of the weather, so we all got to go.

So, we got there and waited and finally it was time for us to begin. We all got a sheet of paper that told us that we were being commanded to go to our town of origin to register for the purpose of taxation and military obligations. We traveled together as the family "Zephaniah," and we had two guides who helped us through the walk. The command we were given had Caesar Augustus' name in another language at the bottom. Anyway, so we went through the "time machine" back to about 700 years before Christ's birth to the time of the prophet Isaiah. We went in there and he prophesied about the birth of the Messiah.

Then we continued through and we saw Mary praying in a room. The angel came and told her she would bear a child. After that, we traveled to Elizabeth's house to see Mary and Elizabeth's conversation when the baby in Liz leapt at Mary's greeting. The next room on the walk took us to Joseph's shop where he contemplated what he should do about the "mess" he and Mary were in. Another angel told him that he was to not dismiss Mary, because she had done no wrong. After we left Joseph's shop, we went outside and then to the Inn where we got some refreshments of hot soup broth, grape juice, and pieces of bread. The Innkeeper was very nice to us, despite the fact he had no lodging for us. Unfortunately, we heard the shouts of "What is that stench!" and then the Roman soldiers came into the inn and were harassing us. They looked at a bunch of our papers to make sure we were who we said we were. The paper was supposed to give us safe passage. ECW was accosted by one of them. The soldier told him that they needed a slave to shovel dung in their stables. The soldier ordered him to stand up and put his arms out. Then he said, "What are those? Chicken wings?! Sit down, you filthy Jew." The soldiers ordered the innkeeper to get rid of us. So, we had to leave, but not before Joseph and Mary came and asked for lodging. The wife of the innkeeper had the idea that the very pregnant Mary and her betrothed could stay in the manger, considering she was so close to giving birth.

The next part of our journey took us outside again. We went and saw a blacksmith's shop where there were two donkeys outside for the kids to pet. The blacksmith told us that we could go inside on the way to the marketplace because there was a good storyteller in town. So, we went in, sat down on some hay, and listened to a woman telling us a story about Gideon who defeated the Midianites. And basically, this was a sermon about how God is with us, even though we think we're the lowest of the low sometimes. It was good. "You are a mighty warrior. The Lord your God is with you!"

After the storyteller was done, we continued to the marketplace. There, we were stopped by the Roman soldiers and the Jews who had taken jobs as tax collectors. The guides did the "official" talking with the soldiers, but they were circling us. ECW and his sister were stopped by them and the soldiers interrogated them for a few minutes. They asked them to spell their name. Neither of them could, so the soldiers ripped their papers and told them to get out of their sight. After our guides paid the tax collectors, we could go into the marketplace. However, one of the soldiers accosted me, took my paper, and said, "What is the name of your clan, Jew?" And I said, "Zephaniah." He said, "Spell your name if you're speaking the truth." And I said, "Z-E-P-H" and he said, "Hurry up, I haven't got all day!" and I said, "A-N-I-A-H." And he thrust my paper back at me and said, "Very well. You may go." And one of his compatriots said, "Oh look here, we have an educated Jew!" But I was actually kind of intimidated. It's amazing but I felt like I'd actually been transported back in time, almost.

Anyway, so I got to then go into the marketplace. There were booths with crackers, candy, fragrances, fresh fish (which was really tuna on tortilla chips), bead workers, and music makers. We got to check that room out (and one of the merchants was a younger woman who often comes into Restaurant. She said "Did the tax collectors treat you badly? I said "Yes, they're mean." And then walked away.) Another merchant was grumbling to me about how the tax collector should be ashamed of himself and shouldn't even be allowed to call himself a Jew. Then a soldier told me to move it along. The marketplace was fairly large, and I was walking around.

After we were done with the marketplace, we again walked outside and over to look at the star high above us, leading us to where the Christ child was. An angel appeared and told us, "Do not fear; for behold, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And then he went away and we walked into the Inn where Mary and Joseph were holding the newborn Jesus. We sat down on the hay that was around. There were animals in the manger, too. They spoke a few lines, and then they exited. A screen came up and the song, "My Deliverer is Coming" came on with its video. And then, the guides showed us out, up the walk (where we saw the Magi going to give Jesus gifts), and back through the time machine to bring us back to the present.

This was a completely awesome night! The B.W. was just amazing. I actually felt like a Jewish person going to be counted. The Roman soldiers made it even more convincing. Wow. After we came in, we went downstairs and had hot cocoa and cookies. There were a few people who explained what goes into the production. They said it takes about 200 people to do everything: setting up, acting the different roles, building stuff, etc. And they have to take the Isaiah scene down tonight because it's in the back half of their sanctuary (I wouldn't have known that. It looked like a mountain to me!) and then reset it after worship tomorrow. The mountain on which Isaiah stood was made up of some stuff that is custom fit to fit over the backs of their pews. Seriously, the scenery was really good, the acting people did a marvelous job. They didn't even read their stuff. I was just amazed. If you EVER get the chance to go to one, GO!!!! It was awesome.

Friday, December 01, 2006

They like me; They really like me!!

I know you all are probably sick to death of this, but I just am amazed. Tonight, I didn't get to go to work. The weather is just too bad to venture out. The male boss called this afternoon and said that it was just going to be him and his wife doing everything tonight because no one would be in. So, I didn't go for my last day of work. Anyway, I have just been messing around all day, not really doing anything productive at all. I didn't even shovel the walk because I didn't think we'd be going anywhere and I didn't think anyone would be coming here. Boy was I wrong!

I was in the kitchen making spaghetti sauce (one of the ONLY things I can make that doesn't come out of a box) and I was coming out here (my computer is on the front porch) to get online. But, I saw some lights outside that were not moving. I thought, "Gee, I hope no one is stuck on the hill, already." It never fails; every year someone gets stuck on this tiny hill outside of our house because there is a stop sign there that messes up the momentum. But, the lights were facing the wrong way. So, I looked out and someone was standing on the porch. I turned on the light and I think I probably jumped a little because I was startled. But I opened the door and it was a Friday night regular woman. She told me that she and her husband had been to Restaurant to have dinner and to see me off, but I wasn't there, so they thought they'd stop by and give me something. My village is on the way home for them. So, she gave me a big bag and said, "Best of luck!" and then I watched her walk back out to the car. I waved at the husband, and I kicked myself for not having shoveled today.

I went in to the other room and read the card (Cards mean a lot to me) and I opened the bag. In it were two big bath towels, some hand towels, and some wash cloths! And guess what color they were! ORANGE!!! My absolute favorite color (as if you couldn't tell from my bright orange shoelaces. I just can't believe it. I knew people liked me there, but I had no idea that liked me this much. Wow. That's all I can say.

Holy Cow!

My University is closed today! Wow. I didn't think they EVER closed, considering that about half the population lives in the dorms or student apartments. Wow.

In other news, I'm simply agog* to get to my last day of work tonight. I hope they don't call me off.

*Agog is Yourdictionary.com's word of the day from November 27th. It means "intensely eager." You learn something new every day!