All About Me….

At some point over the weekend I reached a milestone. Two years. That is how long I have been keeping up this blog. For those of you who have been with me the entire two years, you deserve a congratulations and thank you for sticking it out this long. I know this blog is not the most insightful or even entertaining one out there, but I appreciate your dedication.

Since it is the big two year date (or close enough to count as far as I’m concerned), I figured I should do like so many others and share a list of things about myself.

1. I can be quite cynical at times.
2. My sister is my best friend.
3. God is my everything.
4. I want to love Him better.
5. I question….everything….a lot.
6. I doubt.
7. My insecurities are small in number, but huge in impact.
8. I tend to over-analyze.
9. I love music.
10. I play the flute.
11. I love to sing.
12. I wish I sang better.
13. Despite that, I’ve been told numerous times by numerous people that I have a nice singing voice.
14. I can’t just pick one favorite color.
15. I have two brothers who I don’t always like, but I always love.
16. I have two half-siblings who are technically old enough to be my parents.
17. I wish I was closer to my half-brother and half-sister.
18. I still feel guilt over things from my childhood.
19. Commitment scares me.
20. I am a control freak.
21. I love roller-coasters.
22. One of my biggest fears is that I will die in a car accident.
23. I love flying, it’s the taking off and landing that causes me anxiety.
24. I wear my heart on my sleeve.
25. And then try to protect it with a tough facade.
26. People tell me I’m a strong person.
27. I’m really the most weak person you will ever meet.
28. I’m more pessimistic than optimistic.
29. I love studying theology, even if it is over my head most of the time.
30. I sometimes fear that the guy I blew off in college is the one I was supposed to marry.
31. It was not until my mid-twenties that I realized the value of good girlfriends.
32. That’s because until then most of my close friends were guys.
33. I am addicted to the tv show “Friends.”
34. I am all about organization.
35. I am a firm believer in deadlines.
36. No matter my age, I will always love Mickey Mouse.
37. I will never get rid of my collection of Mickey figurines and paraphernalia.
38. Despite my (limited) knowledge of music theory, most of my favorite songs are determined to be favorites because of the lyrics.
39. I am addicted to coffee.
40. However, I am not a coffee snob by any stretch of the imagination.
41. I have wanted to learn sign language since I was 12.
42. I am loyal…somtimes to a fault.
43. When I love, it is deeply.
44. I hold grudges.
45. I am sarcastic.
46. I am told I am funny.
47. I have a degree in cool.
48. I have a birthmark that also serves as my “temper meter.”
49. I have favorites…even when I shouldn’t.
50. I am a pack-rat.
51. I had my first job at 12 years old.
52. I have a very good work ethic.
53. I have been to more funerals in my lifetime than weddings.
54. I want to be a foster parent one day.
55. I have no desire to have any biological children of my own.
56. A majority of my friends are convinced I will marry a musician.
57. I secretly wish they are right.
58. My dream job is largely unattainable, but it will always be my dream job.
59. I have never told anybody what my dream job is.
60. I love photography.
61. One day I hope to take photography classes.
62. I am more adventurous than most people give me credit for.
63. I will try just about anything once.
64. I’m a neat-freak at work and a slob at home.
65. I wanted 100 things on this list, but can’t think of that many.

Complaints

I know that I am living in a glass here and picking up some pretty hefty rocks. I just cannot hold it in anymore. I have had my fill of complaints. There are some people I interact with because of my job that seem to do nothing but complain about my job performance. It seems that nothing I do pleases them. I have given up trying to please them because it only drives me crazy and gets nothing accomplished. I am good at my job, despite what they think. I do what is asked of me and more. I do far more than what my pay should cover.

I have heard about this church on the news a few times that has started a movement for a complaint free world. If they wouldn’t complain about it, I would get bracelets for some of these people. I have ordered one for myself. I realize that I complain more than I should considering how blessed I am. Yet, I also believe that if I am going to complain about an activity, event, or program I better be willing to step up to the plate and help contribute to a solution.

Constant complaining solves nothing. If you don’t like the way something is done, help those who can change it. If you are not willing to help out and change things, then please keep your mouth shut.

To-Do List

Okay, I’m not as ambitious as Traci or Wendy who both have lists of goals they are working on. But I did get to do three things today that I have wanted to do for a while.

I am not much of a movie person. Mostly because I don’t have the time. In the past year I have become a fan of Redbox, so will occassionally rent movies while I’m at the grocery store. This morning I watched two movies that I have wanted to see that I had picked up last night while out getting dinner. Dan in Real Life and August Rush. Both were great and I would highly recommend you watch them when you can.

The other thing was I finally got to put mentos in diet cola. The VBS theme we’re using this year is Power Lab…kind of a mad scientist type theme. One of the activities is the mentos in diet coke thing. My coworker who oversees VBS had asked me if it had to be Diet Coke or just any type of diet soda. I wasn’t sure, so we had to experiment. We bought one pack of mentos, a two-liter of store brand diet cola, and a two-liter of Diet Pepsi (because it was on sale and Diet Coke wasn’t). For the record, the store brand worked just as well as the Pepsi.

And the winner is…

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

17

Timestamp: 2008-04-27 20:40:46 UTC

Congratulations Misty! An email has been sent so that you can claim your prize.

Thanks to all those who stopped by and played along. Be on the lookout for another giveaway coming soon–maybe this week, depending on how soon I get caught up on my sleep.

Grass is Browner?

I am going to vent a bit. And I know some of you will not agree with me. That’s fine. I am okay with some healthy disagreement. And now that I know I have to specifically allow comments on each individual post, I will even allow you to post your disagreements here. (Yeah, sometimes I’m really slow to learn. Especially when they change the interface I work with.)

Lately I have had a few friends make comments to be in passing on how I don’t know what it’s like to have problems or be busy because I am not a mother. I will be the first to admit that they have more responsibility than I do at home. After all, they are responsible for another person and once I leave work, the only person I am responsible for is myself.

That being said, just because I am single does not mean I do not have problems and am not a busy person. In fact, I think that in some ways being single makes it even harder to balance my schedule at times. Nobody else is waiting for me to cook dinner, wash laundry, or put a young one to bed so who will know that instead of heading home to eat, pay bills, and do laundry I put in four extra hours at work one evening. Now, putting in that extra time is not always bad. But it can become that way when it becomes a daily habit and leads to increased irritability because I am not taking care of myself.

While I don’t doubt that marriage and being a parent comes with its own set of challenges and problems, single people are not immune. It’s just that the problems are different. Everybody has problems. I don’t care who you are, there is something you are struggling with. It’s part of life. Your problem may be struggling with how to deal with a specific parenting situation. My problem might be struggling with loneliness or the pressures others are unknowingly placing on me to get married and have kids.

I’m just trying to say that before you judge somebody else as being better off than you, stop and think about the fact that they may be fighting a battle too. Sometimes it might be harder, sometimes easier, but it is just as real to them as your problems are to you. And which of us couldn’t use a little more compassion in our lives?

Craft Bug

A couple of weeks ago (give or take) I was bitten by the craft bug. If you know me at all, you know that this happens occassionally. Unfortunately, it lasts for a few weeks at best, and then I grow tired of it. I box up whatever I had been working on and put it away until the bug bites again. This is why I have one cross-stitch project I have been working on for more years than I want to try and remember. It was ambitious in size to begin with, not to mention that I can go a year without touching it at all.

I spent much of my time the other weekend at the fabric stores collecting material for my latest round of projects. I was successful in completing one. Well, it was actually two that turned into one. Last week Shannon posted this pattern/tutorial to make burp cloths. I thought it’d be something easy to do and I could then send them to my pregnant sister-in-law. They were so easy to make that after finishing the first set, I went and bought more material to make a second set. It’s nice to have a gift ready for the baby shower before it’s even planned. The finished projects looked like this:

                              

I started another “project” as well. It’s actually an idea I’ve had for months now and it just hadn’t developed any further than an idea in my head. I was inspired months ago when I spent the day with my friend Vanessa helping her to hang a show of her work at a gallery in Greensboro. About a week after starting this new “project” I had a rare Monday night at home and spent more time working on it. It’s still unfinished, but here’s the progress so far. I’m calling it “Love Heals Your Heart.”

I already have a few more sketches for more projects of this nature. Be on the lookout for “Twilight” and another called “Consuming Fire.” Actually “Twilight” was the original idea, but is a little more ambitious than I was ready for a few weeks back.

Who knows, if the craft bug sticks around long enough this time, I might pull out the fabric I’ve had for almost three years now and make some new placemats for my dining table.

Giveaway Fun

So I have never really participated in anything like the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival, but when I first read about it, I knew I would have to jump in. Mostly because I knew that I could help my friend a very talented artist increase traffic to their site, even if just for a week or so. And I’m all about being generous. Especially when it involves friends talented artists.

So, head over to Spirit Inspired Works and look around. Come back here and post a comment telling me what your favorite piece is and why.

Winner will receive one free “Inkling” piece chosen by the artist. Comments will be closed on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Winner will be drawn on Sunday, April 27, 2008 and in some sort of random fashion. Contest is open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike, but you must at least have a valid email address. Winner must have a U.S. mailing address.

One entry per person, please. Multiple entries will disqualify you. If the winner does not respond to my email within three days, a new winner will be drawn. Remember to check back here or Bloggy Giveaway central for the winner.

Be…

I had a post all typed up telling you about the crafty type projects I worked on over the weekend. But that kind of post is not complete without pictures and I cannot seem to locate a working camera. So until I get a new battery for my camera, it will remain in the drafts folder. I will share with you, though, some words from St. Rose that are my prayer recently…

Christ be in all hearts thinking about me
Christ be on all tongues telling of me
Christ be the vision in eyes that see me
In ears that hear me, Christ ever be.

The Song Remembers When

There are certain songs/artists that make me think of certain people. Any song by Third Eye Blind makes me think of my friends Mindy and Alicia and our freshmen year of college. Like A Prayer by Madonna reminds me of Megan and Alison D. and curling iron karoake. George Strait reminds me of Laura and Rosie. The list goes on and on.

A few weeks ago, I had to get a new phone because my other one broke. They were able to transfer all of my contact info, but unfortunately none of my ringers. Which has given me a good excuse to try out some new ringers and change things up a bit. But I’m stuck. I am not good at making decisions, and all the choices just hurt my head.

Is there a song that when you hear it, it makes you think of me? If so, leave me a comment and tell me what it is. It may just inspire me to make a purchase and try out a new ringtone.

Dreams

Last night was not a good night as far as sleep goes. As best as I can figure, I was lucky if I got a total of two hours of sleep. I don’t know if it was something I ate or what, but I had some strange dreams last night. The common theme was that in all five of them, somebody was trying to kill me.

The first one is the only one I can remember vivid details from. I know that my friend, Wendy, and her husband were in it. They were hanging out with me in my office until the wee hours of the morning. I made them leave before me so that I could set the alarm. As I’m walking to my truck, two people walk out from around the back of the building. I assume that they had been back in the woods back there, and quickly get into my truck. They want me to unlock the building so they can use the bathroom. When I refuse, they pull out a gun and try to shoot me.

The other dreams I cannot remember details, but vividly remember in all of them there being at least one person trying to shoot and kill me.

I was telling my friend, Vanessa, about these dreams at lunch today. I started to say that I had never dreamt anything like it before, but then remembered I had. About two months ago, I had a dream where one of the kids in my youth group was trying to kill me. In that one, we were having some big event in the old church and one of the girls pulls out a gun and starts randomly shooting people because she can’t find me. In that dream, I was able to sneak outside without her spotting me where there were a bunch of police officers playing poker.

I’m not sure what my subconscious is trying to tell me, but all I know is that dreaming about people killing you is a bit disconcerting.