HO HO HO

As I was driving to work this morning I heard a radio broadcast regarding Santa Claus and his use of "HO HO HO" and how it scares children. The only thing scary about "HO HO HO" is that we are so caught up in a machine that we are now going to pick at everything in society we can until there is no joy left. I can't tell you how idiotic this sounded when the broadcaster said it because it was beyond my ability to articulate, but I can tell you this. As intelligent people, we better start thinking about what we aren't doing and who is fueling these stupid studies and yelling enough to be heard by the general population. A study can be so easily misrepresented by the media and we typically just listen to what we hear on the radio or see on the news because no one refutes this crap. This "HO HO HO" scenario is just another example of some psychologist or sociologist trying to make a name for himself and using the mass media to prey upon a generation of people who are bullied by scare tactics.

The long awaited arrival

Welcome to the world, my dear child. You are precious and beautiful, innocent and new. With loving arms we hold you. Our eyes glisten with tears of joy and excitement. We are truly blessed by your arrival.

Baby, baby oh where is the Baby?

Well, still no baby yet. We are hoping any praying that little Miss Arilyn will join us sometime today. Labor is progressing slowly, but it is progressing. . .

She makes us wait

Well, my niece is already being stubborn by staying inside until she is darn good and ready to make her final exit. My poor sister-in-law started having contractions yesterday evening and is still having them. She is not in false labor, but she is progressing very slow. Miss Arilyn has decided to arrive on her schedule at her own pace regardless of how tired Mom and everyone else are now. We all had minimal sleep last night and Angie can't sleep while she is having contractions so she is really tired. Come on little girl- get a move on and come one out. We are waiting to greet you with open arms!

I don't understand

It is really late and I am really tired, but I still wanted to get something out for the day. I am having a difficult time understanding a few situations in my life right now. I am thoroughly confused. I continue to pray every night about them and hope that the Lord will guide me to an answer.

Monday, Monday Reflections

Here we are, the Monday after a big holiday weekend. It was a good weekend and I posted several times. I find myself now as we head into the last month of 2007 starting to reflect on the year and events past. This was a big year for me. I have made many changes in my life and I am moving in a different direction now. I made new friends, strengthened old friendships, and even had some people leave. But I am happier, healthier and stronger now. Life is good!

Perspectives and Perception

I think what makes us interesting and different people is that we all possess our own unique perspective on life. We see everything through our lens. At the same time, it is what can cause conflict among even good friends if we don't see situations the same or don't agree. I believe that many people possess the ability to be rational and reasonable about seeing other people's perspectives, but there are some who refuse to see both sides because they operate under the principle that everything is either black or white - period. Unfortunately, I see this number growing in this country today. These people are more difficult to debate points of politics, discuss different religions, or even seek advice from simply because of the fact that no middle ground exists for them in the way they view a situation.

I understand this person well, as I used to be like this. I really did not see any gray area in many things around me and to this day, I still don't when it comes to certain business situations or when it comes to morality. I do understand that my perspective is mine and may not be shared, though and that is something that I have learned to consider and really tried to incorporate in my life. For me, I have grown to the point in my life where being right isn't as important as understanding the situation and realizing the implications of all that is involved. Granted, it is important to understand that in the heat of the moment of any passionate discussion or debate, being full of clarity is not always a person's strongest characteristic, including my own, but I am someone who can and will concede to an opponent's better points in a discussion, or if needs be, apologize if a discussion rises to the level of an argument and it becomes necessary, due to my actions, extend an olive branch. I know that I have a tendency to overreact in some cases, especially those where my character is being personally attacked instead of the focus being on the situation. Human nature would dictate this to be true of a decent number of people. No one enjoys hearing about what is wrong with them versus what they are doing and that is a fine line that many of us walk during heated discussions. Keeping a discussion focused and not letting it become an all out assault on each other when emotions are involved is up to the individuals in the discussion. It takes people with strong character and good judgment to not derail a discussion. This is harder spoken than executed. I know that it is very difficult for me if someone says something to me and I hear it differently than they meant it, then the fine line he or she might have been walking will have been crossed whether they meant to or not. Intent and perception are two very different things. For me, crossing that line is not acceptable and depending on how far over they went or what was said, I will react and my perception of that situation will change.
Reacting is not the best way to handle anything. Of course, I know this; you know this; most people realize this in their minds. Realizing it and being able to stop it from happening when you are in the middle of a situation are not the same. Any time you are heavily emotionally involved in a situation, you are more likely to over-react and maybe unfavorably if your feelings have been hurt. I can't tell you how many times I have done this. I can tell you that now that I am older and wiser, I am getting better at not over-reacting, better, but still not perfect and unfortunately still doing it from time-to-time. That doesn't mean I am still not reacting. I know for me, this is going to be a life-long challenge to keep my emotions in check when I am discussing subjects that I am extensively emotionally invested in and have strong opinions about. I know that I am going to have to work at it all the time and count to ten more often.

I know who I am emotionally. My perspective is not easily changed and perception is very dangerous, especially if I don't read a situation correctly. It happens. And for me, I find it happens more frequently during electronic correspondence where there is no eye contact or chance to read body language and hear tone of voice. There is so much chance for misinterpretation in email, IM and text messaging. I know I have to be very careful and not try to assume anything. Again, another concept that is easier said than done. On the other hand, the more I am challenged with situations, the more I find myself knowing the work I need to do to continue to grow and to gain a greater, more universal perspective. It is a good thing to learn from past mistakes.

I know I may not always agree with people and they may not agree with me, but I hope that our opinions whether they are different or not, can be shared constructively and that we each can grow from our experiences when dealing with changing perception and gaining new perspectives.

Playing Catch up

After spending a day in what could be defined as a completely vegetative state, I now need to actually be productive for the weekend and get my house in order. I am enjoying my four day weekend very much. When I get real down time that is not because I have a migraine or am ill, I really like to just relax and sometimes to the extreme. LOL. But, I do have laundry to do, dishes to wash and bed linen to change. And I don't want to head into these next few weeks before the holidays with my house in disarray. So, that is my challenge today - motivation to get the needed chores done.

The Friday After

Today is the largest shopping day of the year (supposedly). I find it the perfect day to stay inside and recover from Turkeyfest 2007. I am have become less of a fan of shopping especially during the holidays when the stores are overcrowded and people seem to forget their manners. I find myself online shopping more and more and giving my favorite, the gift card -easy to purchase and leaving the gift choice to the recipient. YAY!.

So, today is a day for arm chair resting, feet up, hot baths and take out food delivered to my door - true indulgence. Hope yours is too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On today, the day we set aside to give thanks, I would like to say thank you to all of our troops. These men and women are to be commended for the sacrifice they make every day so that we as Americans can enjoy our freedom.

Another note of thanks to our teachers, those who care-give, nurses, etc. Your job is more a giving of yourself and touches lives daily.

I want to say thank you for all of the blessings in my life - my incredible friends and family and all that I have. My cup runneth over. . .

Parlez-vous Francais?

Okay, I should have typed something in Spanish or Arabic or even Japanese, but it just so happens that I took 6 years of French. What was I thinking? Oh yeah. I remember. I live near Canada. I was not at all thinking when I was 12 years old that at 33 years old I would need to be bilingual in my own country of origin in order to function if I visit states that border Mexico. I am really at a loss that I did not have the forethought to think I would need to enroll in Spanish class over French class for those reasons. I just liked French better, despite the fact the majority of my good friends were in Spanish. Even then, I was a rebel. Now, I am just a patriot.
Is it just me or did someone forget what country this is? Am I not in the United States of America? Were we not founded by settlers who came over from England (native language English)? My point is when did America stop being about Americans? I can't even tell you how pissed off I am these days about all of the people that are fighting for the rights of illegal aliens and the oppressed and telling the rest of Americans that we are evil and unpatriotic because we want to keep our rights OURS! When did it become bad to be protective of the civil liberties that were ours to begin with? I know how wonderful it is to live here in the US- I live here! And if someone wants to live here that was not born here, then he or she needs to do it the old fashioned way. Cheating and coming into this country illegally is WRONG and is not fair to those who did it the right way. And the more people who support this, the more this country is going to suffer- financially and socially! We are in trouble. We are perpetuating a problem that we are not going to be able to fix if we don't stop and face the reality of the situation. We have been too nice for too long and our government isn't getting the job done! Wake up America before America is no longer yours!