People Watching

It is Tuesday afternoon and I am spread out with books, computer, and lunch in a comfy corner at school.  I have been studying here for several hours so I thought I would take a mental break and do something different.  I haven't given an update since last week which may be typical.  I enjoying writing, but given that my major falls under a science degree, I have to spend most of my spare time studying microorganisms, osmosis, diffusion, action potentials, axons, and such.  It is fascinating, studying the minute details that describe how the body functions on the smallest cell level, to the largest body system. Most of the basics learned in high school have been long forgotten and resting under a dusty lump in my brain, and new material is like learning a foreign language.  Once the fog is lifted and new and old material come together, understanding the functions of life is simply fascinating. 

It is not always easy getting the fog to lift.  Distractions are everywhere.  I am aware of my limitations and try to avoid studying in areas where there is constant traffic.  People watching can be just as fascinating as listening to my recording of Dr. Burnett's lecture on "Transduction, Generation, and Transmission."  People watching makes me think of my Sociology class last summer.  I wonder what were the circumstances in a person's life growing up that allows their brain to tell them that it is o.k. to wear the things they do in public, or the way they respond to strangers. 

I was at the store a few days ago waiting for assistance in capturing a beautiful fat belly fish that I wanted to take home and plop in my tank.  There was one customer ahead of me who appeared well dressed and reserved.  When the employee in charge of the pet department failed to show up, I flagged down another employee by the name of Phil.  Phil met us with a grin and said, "this is not my area so I may not be able to answer many questions about the fish, but if you know what you want I will be more than happy to bag them for you."  Now, Phil could have walked away and said he would get someone to come help us, but he chose to help so that we could get what we needed and get home.  The customer ahead of me was so rude to Phil.  I was taken back just listening in disbelief that a person could intentionally insult (numerous times) another person that they had just met.  What environment was this man raised in, or what events took place in his life that turned on a switch in his brain that says "it is o.k. to say things to other people that are insulting."   Have I ever insulting anyone, been rude, short, or irritated with anyone?  I have, but I can't recall doing so intentionally and never multiple times.  I am a sinner just like everyone else in this world.  But I hope and pray that if and when I am ever rude to anyone in the future, that I recognize it so that I can apologize.  The customer ahead of me spoke to Phil using language insinuating that Phil was "only a Wal-Mart employee."  The customer and Phil were both male, appeared to be the same age, and of the same race.  I looked at each to see how the customer and Phil were so different, and then it came to me...

Phil just continued to smile and ask the customer if he could be of further assistance after bagging his fish, and even informed the customer that a "free" fish jumped in his bag. At one point, Phil did say "this is not my only job" but even then he said it with a smile.  The truth is, Phil did not owe the customer an explanation.  It is not the title of our job that defines who we are.  It is what comes from our heart, what is spoken with our mouth..... Gal 5:22 (for those that like Bible verses) says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness."   If you take this verse and apply it to life in general (not just Christians), it says that the fruit (how we act / speak) is evidence of who we are deep down inside.   People watching can be fascinating, and distracting, but it always tells a story.  I hope that my story that people read is one of compassion and kindness.  What does your story say to strangers?

August 11th and 12th

It is Sunday evening Aug 12th and I am reflecting back on a nice productive weekend.  Well, I say productive.  Maybe I should change that to the start of productivity.  We are currently getting a little relief from what was 100 degree weather a week or so ago and upper 90's following that.  First order of productivity involved cleaning and reorganizing the garage.  I should specify because we actually have two; one for cars and my storage and one for him.  They are both the same size, his maybe a bit larger, and yet I get the one where the cars are parked with less storage room.  His garage houses all the yard tools, lawn mowers, rakes, our kayaks, hunting and camping gear.  Now that I think about it, maybe I got the better end of the deal.  His garage may be larger but it is full of dirty stuff and lots of spiders.  Because we use my garage everyday with coming and going and having items on shelves for storage, it gets disorganized pretty quick.  I usually take time between semesters to gut it out, reorganize and throw away junk. So the weekend was not productive yet, it is still a job in progress.  Tomorrow it should be back to a nice neat organized happy room. When a room has everything in it's place, it is a happy room, which makes me happy.

Other productive tasks included getting my school calendar organized.  Yes I said school. I am a granny in college, so what's it to ya?  Anyway, the new semester begins this week.  Yay! I am such a nerd.  At the beginning of every semester, I always take the syllabus and schedule from all of my classes and merge the schedules into one calendar.  That way, I can look at one calendar and know what I need to study each day and what the focus in class will be in all my classes.  With "some" things, I tend to be somewhat of an over achiever.  That is a nice way to describe someone who has OCD tendencies and just doesn't know when to quit, lol.  So... I worked on my calendar this weekend which I thoroughly enjoyed (maybe too much).  It is an expression of creativity...creating my own calendar on the computer, making columns, changing the landscape, adding graphics which correlate with the season, changing out the font to my liking (curly and cute), highlighting where I have exams scheduled, printing, slicing with my paper cutter for perfect lines, and lining up the hole puncher. A creation that brings much satisfaction. Are you currently giving me a diagnosis?  Well, if only I could get paid for creating things like that.  Oh wait...yes...I did have a job doing just that.  A great job working for a CEO for about 5 years making very good money.  I enjoyed it, but I left and went to work elsewhere thinking the grass is greener on the other side.  It wasn't by a long shot, but what did happen is God was paving a path to where I am now, and I couldn't be happier. I will be even happier when I finish school so that I can start working as a nurse and helping people, and the Mr. will be even happier to have another paycheck coming in.  Almost there.  Sometimes it is hard to see the future, we doubt, we become afraid, we try to take things and make them work for what we think is the right plan; but talking to Him and asking for His guidance (you know, the big guy who knows your future already) definitely makes getting to the goal a much happier ride. 

The other productive thing we did this weekend involved rubbing down a couple of very large juicy butts and smoking all day.  What's that? ..... Bbq people! My word! Bbq!  As I mentioned before, I am all about finding a bargain.  I typically shop at Ingles for basic necessities.  Lately I have been shopping at a local fruit and veggie stand as well as the State Farmers Market.  Inside the Farmer's Market, they have a wide selection of fresh fruits and veggies as well as a market that carries dairy and meat products.  Long story short, the Boston Butts were a very good price, so I snatched up about $30.00 worth of pig yesterday, rubbed it down with Barry's secret bbq rub recipe which he has shared with only the dog and I, and the dog isn't talking.  For a price, I have a hard time keeping secrets.  So the butts got rubbed, wrapped, and refrigerated overnight.  My alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. to pull them out and to allow them to begin to come to a room temperature.  At that point, I was seriously thinking that this was a stupid idea.  It was my idea, I know, but my eyes don't focus at 4:00 a.m.  After my work was done, I went back to bed and the Mr. got up around 6 a.m. to get the smoker started.  The aroma of smoked oinker filled the air all day (exactly 10 1/2 hours for my folks that like it concrete).   While the pig smoked, I started the process of making what turned out to be a giant pot of Brunswick Stew.  I don't have a secret recipe for this, but I am very picky about how I like it.  I Googled a few recipes and decided to tweak several recipes to make my own.   Now that we have all this bbq and stew, I won't have to cook as much this week and I can put some in the freezer for another time. 

So Friday was a relaxing ME day where Saturday and Sunday was productive days so that I can have more of those relaxing ME days in the future.  I guess it is true, if you work hard, good things happen.  If you don't work, you don't eat.  All that bbqing and cleaning this weekend was alot of work, but now I get to enjoy the fruits of the labor.  Now if you will excuse me, I hear forks and spoons rattling in the kitchen.  That means it's time to eat.  

Have a wonderful night, and don't forget to talk to Him (you know who, we have already covered this).

Nighty night. 

August 10, 2012

 

Today turned out to be an unexpected ME day.   It is important to occasionally have a date with one's self.  I started out the day by sleeping in.  I have a set of new sheets on the bed which feel ahhh-mazing.  Before leaving my comfy heaven of pillows and blanky, I had a call from a wonderful girlfriend, Cyndi who I love with all my heart.  Then after a lazy morning, I hit the streets.  My travels took me to Dunkin Donuts where I had intended to purchase one donut and a coffee for the road.  It was an impulse purchase that required me to make a sudden u-turn after the DD sign caught my eye as I passed by.  The impulse purchase got even worse as I left the store with a dozen assorted yummy fattening donuts.  I figured I would take some home to share with the fam.  Wasn't that sweet of me?  After leaving the donut store with an eminent sugar rush and a little shame, I headed to a local nail salon.  A fresh set of french manicured nails and painfully sculptured eyebrows always makes one feel pretty.  After leaving the nail salon, I made another impulse decision.  I decided on a whim to check out the local thrift stores.  No harm in that, right?  I am not addicted to shopping.  I am addicted to the thrill of the hunt for an awesome bargain.  The difference is, I don't buy a lot, but I enjoy the hunt.  It was a good decision.  I landed a brand new pair of very cute Bass wedge shoes in my size for only $5.00.  Heck yeah! I also purchased a handful of books (novels that caught my eye) which were tax free due to the tax free weekend.  A $12.00 total spend and I think I got an awesome bargain.  After a few hours of feeling pretty with freshly manicured nails and throbbing eyebrows (thanks to Kim from Vietnam who smiled as she ripped the waxy strip from my forehead), I traded the thrift store digging for a somewhat higher class of clientele; Wal-Mart.  Why? Why is it so easy to spend $100 in a flash at WM? One can go in intending to purchase a pack of gum and come out with a buggy full of nonsense.  Fortunately I was armed with a list so I was able to stay somewhat in control.  I purchased a few things for dinner, a lamp for Brian's room ($7), light bulbs (geez Louise, they are expensive),  laundry stain remover, and ink for the printer (a whopping $43 for 3 cartridges!!).  I don't know about you, but who ever is behind the mixing and packaging of printer ink is a big fat thief.  Or maybe I'm just jealous because I didn't think of it first.  $43.00 for ink! Aye karomba!

Well, I left Wal-Mart and headed home to finish off my ME day with a little bit of nothing except hanging out with the family and eating a BLT for dinner using fresh tomatoes from our garden.  All in all, it was an unexpected, relaxing, no rush, do whatever I want....ME day.