Blog Block

I am fascinated by blogging and it's power. I don't actually read many blogs--confession time: the only blog I subscribe to I haven't actually read since Christmas time. I haven't done much of anything non-work related since Christmas time--and I am always intrigued when I hear people talk about the blogs which they follow. Some people seem to really have fun things to share.

I am at a block. I have barely gotten started and already have a block... I just plain don't know about what I should write. I have plenty going on and plenty of topics from which to choose. I think my problem is that I am not a decision maker and therefore, do not want to pick any one topic.

So, I have a new idea... I will cover a few highlights of the day and the topic that I had the most expression while discussing.

Here's the expression portion: I have a dear friend who has a taste in movies that does not appeal to me. She likes comedy, animation and other things I'm not crazy about. Though we did enjoy both Camp Rock movies and the Wizards of Waverly Place movie together, now she wants to see Gnomio and Juliet--in the theatre. I will not pay to see an animated movie of lawn gnomes acting out a version of Shakespeare's classic. Though I minored in literature in college, I am definitely not a lit snob. But I can not justify spending money and hours of my life watching that. Perhaps when it hits DVD, I'll give it a shot. And maybe I'll even enjoy it. In no way am I prepared to see this when I have to be quiet and don't have the option of turning it off.

Now the highlights: I am fairly certain the dog was having a bad dream this morning. I was in the bathroom and heard some noise. I looked in the living room where I am fairly certain the dog had just fallen off the couch in his sleep. He was stretched out on the floor, on his side, still asleep. He looked like he was trying to run, but it was more of a wiggly twitch and he made soft grunting noises. That kind of thing makes me wonder what goes on in animal minds.

I worked this morning and had the afternoon off. I made the most of it by quilting and watching an SVU marathon. Those are the activities of which winter days are made. I felt a bit guilty about being inside when the weather outside is so nice, but I can't get anywhere without getting muddy, wet and walking on ice. Yuck! Tomorrow I don't have to work until evening, as of right now anyway, and I need to clean. Badly! It has become very apparent that I am not organized and I am not a great housekeeper. I need to get back on track. I haven't done much cleaning or laundry since Christmas time either.

Another highlight... I wrote a blog post.

I hope tomorrow is good in all the same ways as today.

Jesus's

In connection with my last post, here is my address of the spellcheck not recognizing Jesus's as a word.

The fact is that some say you can show possession with Jesus by simply adding an apostrophe to the end (Jesus'), the issue I have with that is that there is only one Jesus. I'm not actually a believer in the power of spellcheck, I use it to catch mistakes, but I do not rely on it to catch all my mistakes. I know it doesn't catch them all and in this case it is flat out wrong.

We have options when it comes to language and spelling. That's part of what makes it all so confusing. You can show possession by adding only an apostrophe to a person's name that ends in an S. But that violates the rules. The rules say apostrophe before S if the noun is singular. You can spell cancelled with two Ls, like that, or with one, canceled. Tomatoes, potatoes, and tornadoes have an E before the S. Who decided tomatoes and potatoes need that E, but tornados doesn't.

This is turning into a random rant, but here's the final note... Who decided it is necessary to add an 's to make something plural, and how did that idea get spread around? We see it all the time and it is so very wrong. Please, don't ever do it.

36 Days

Yesterday, a lady on the radio had the audacity to suggest that we are knee deep into the Christmas season. I, of course, yelled at her, but I don't think she heard me. We are just getting started. Our toes are barely covered in Christmas-y-ness. Yet, people seem to think that December initiates Christmas wind-down mode. What is up with that? I strongly dislike the radio stations that quit playing Christmas music on December 26, and am thoroughly disgruntled when TV stations stop playing holiday movies before New Years. The season doesn't even begin until December 25.

I e-mailed our priest a couple of days ago asking about adding a short Christmas program for the Religious Education students after a Mass in December. His response gave the go ahead, but he also said, and I don't think entirely in jest, that it would actually be an Advent program. He is completely right! We are preparing for Christmas. Christmas comes when Jesus is born.

Christmas is definitely highly commercialized, and I have to admit I love all the Christmas stuff: lights, food, decorations, gift wrapping, cards, songs. But, Christmas is completely about joy. We should be joyful because our Savior was born. Huzzah! Not already tired of all the holiday parties, gift giving obligation, and family gathering.

I love celebrating the season for as long as I can.... October 10 is my Christmas-tune-listening start-date. But, our real Christmas celebrating should be concentrated on those good, old twelve days of Christmas. Which don't actually start until December 25. Boy, am I glad I still have 36 days to celebrate. I like to celebrate Jesus's birth everyday, but you get less funny looks singing "O Come Let Us Adore Him" in November than you do in April.

And another thing... I just ran a spell check and the computer is tell me that "Jesus's" is incorrect. That will have to be addresses in a later post.

MN Museum

Yesterday I visited the MN History Museum. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. There were 6 major exhibits in all. One included a simulated grain elevator complete with many levels and tunnels. The purpose for the expedition was to explore the "Greatest Generation" exhibit featuring war experiences of the pre-baby boom generation. The exhibit did a great job of summing up life in war times.

I learned something valuable. Butter turns white after 7 years. In the MN150 exhibit the butter head of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way from the year (2003) I was a dairy princess and competed for the title was on display. It didn't look so good, I'm glad it's in the museum because I wouldn't want to eat it any more.

I will definitely have to go back soon. We road a bus sponsored by the public library. It was a great trip, but much too short. We breezed through most of the exhibits, only 3 minutes to see 100 years of history in a house, and didn't even get to look around in the gift shop.

I don't think much about history or take advantage of the information that is available to me. I need to get out more, visit more museums, and take advantage of all there is to see, do and experience.

Comments

I don't feel like my brain works as well lately as it has at other times so far in my life. I have to admit, I have always thought of myself as having reasonable intelligence. I don't think that any more. Many things have contributed to this conclusion. I had just had a bad moment--see the next paragraph.

I just now discovered that people have commented on my blog posts. The first comment came in July of 2009. I guess I'll have to check the "Comments" tab more often.

Now on to a problem: I've recently discovered that several (4 of who I am aware) people are reading this blog. I started the blogging thing to work on my creative writing and to motivate myself to so some form of journaling. Neither has happened. So, now I am trying to conceptualize what my blog content with be. I like structure and I like to meet deadlines, reach goals, etc. One thing I do not like to do is set goals. Actually, setting the goal is not the problem. Sticking to it is where I get in trouble. I only set little goals and then I don't bother achieving them because something else of a higher priority comes up. Therefore, on top of an excuse to do the simple action of writing and have some form of journal, this blog may also become a goal achieving development tool.

That sounded complicated; now my brain is tired.

Time for bed.

Praying for Power

Days like today make me thankful and make me wonder. I wonder if I could live without electricity... I'm sure I could, but I know I don't want to. Because of today's weather, rainy-wet-extremely windy!, many people are without power. My sister and I went shopping tonight only to find that one of the main stores I wanted to visit was closed due to a power outage. I just heard on the news that many homes are without power, and I just found out when I came home that I uncle and his family are without power, which wouldn't be a huge deal except that he is a dairy farmer and has been unable to do the evening milking without power to run the milker pump. This basic everyday necessity was unheard of 150 years ago, and now we are completely dependant.

Not only are we dependant on power, but we seem to have problems when our cell phones die, or our internet doesn't work.
This day and it's obstacles help to put things in perspective and remind us of just how great we've got it. I have to thank God for those little reminders.

Speaking of thanking God... I just found out tonight that Garth Brooks' song "Unanswered Prayers" is being made into a Lifetime movie. I am so excited. I've always loved the message of that song, and of course I like a good Lifetime movie.

Back to God and life's good things... we have so much technology, so many resources and so much potential right at our fingertips. I hope we all use it. I know I need to be better at taking full advantage of all of the opportunities I'm given, as well as the skills and abilities I have. If I put it all together I know I am capable of accomplishing much.

Now the only problem is--what is it that I want to accomplish?

Pirate Ship, School House, Uffda!

I have to admit, sometimes my life is pretty darn easy. Today, for example, I am subbing in a high school media center. Though I will have 3 hours of unruly, large groups of students, half of my day will be spent largely alone, checking out the occasional book and supervising a few study hall students who will wander in and out. So, what am I doing in the meantime? Decorating a school house. It's actually kind of sweet. I have a white tag board school house silhouette and I get to make it pretty. I did a pirate-ship this summer for a program at the public library (I should post a picture) and I was asked to work some magic with the school house. So far I've cut light salmon/tan colored paper into strips, for siding, and I've traces roof pieces of out of coffee sleeves (those cardboard things that go around hot cups at coffee shops). Days like this are great, I get things done, while I get paid to do other things.

I feel a little bit guilty sitting here and being paid to do very little actual work. But, I've realized something as I've had a few jobs and done some different things... in many cases, we are being compensated for our time, not just our productivity. Of course, that doesn't mean we should sit at our jobs and do nothing, but it does mean that sometimes someone just needs to be present. Time is a valuable thing, therefore, we should be compensated for giving our time.

I've also used some of this bonus time to look into teacher license renewal and think about getting a real job. Both should be goals of mine... that's as far as I got in my thoughts.

Lately, I have felt a serious push to get organized and declutter my life. I took a quiz last night in an organizing book. To my astonishment, I was only on the 2nd level of needing to get organized. I expected to be off the charts. My main issue is that I simply throw things away. I need to be better as passing things on to other people, worthy causes, or rummage sales. I think part of my problem is that I don't want to throw good stuff away, but I don't want to deal with finding a new place/home for things, therefore keep and toss become my only options.

I also need to expand my regular speaking and typing vocabulary. I know plenty of words, why don't I use them?