Can I get a "Woot!"?

I was chatting with a friend the other day and he mentioned how Jesus was crucified and did not stay dead, and I could not help but respond with "Woot!" to that. The very mention of Christ's death and resurrection excited me. What wondrous love is this, oh my soul!

In other news, lest any of you are tempted as I was to think that my new age (and Tim's and Matthew's, too!) of 26 makes for a rather uninteresting number, I would like to pass along it's significance, with special thanks to the friend who pointed it out to me. There are 26 characters in 128-bit WEP encryption keys. So for the few readers who might appreciate that (or even know what that means), here's to 26! Sigh... I'm such a nerd!

The big news!

When my sister called me yesterday I barely gave her time to express her birthday greeting to me before I adamantly demanded that she tell me the news. She made me guess whether I thought it was a boy or a girl and why. I thought for a brief moment and said, "Girl." My reason? It's what the "gut" said. Wasn't the first thing I thought. "Boy" actually came to mind first and I dismissed it and settled on "girl" instead. Well, I was right. I've got some lavender yarn just waiting around here, so I shall have to begin some sort of project. :) I am excited. August can't come soon enough, then September after that when I will actually see my neice! :) I just love cute little baby girl clothes, and it will take a lot of will power to not buy everything I see!

My birthday wish

Someone asked me a few days ago what my birthday wish is. I gave a very selfish answer. I have changed my mind. I want the angels to have a party. That's my wish. :)

My sister is supposed to call me some time today and tell me if she's expecting a boy or a girl. My parents know but won't tell me.

It's open...

The job position I would like to move into at work just opened this week. I have to be in my current position for 6 months before I can apply. My six month anniversary is on Sunday. There is only a ten day application window for the position, so I am just managing to squeak through! I will not be the only internal applicant for it and I am sure there will be some competition. One friend tells me that I am the strongest candidate, but I am not sure whether that's really an impartial opinion. I think I have a fair shot at it. I am working at picking up information that would be helpful to know and learning as much as I can before I go in to the interview. It will be interesting to me to see who actually applies and then who gets the job. I have a feeling there will be other opportunities for the same position opening up in the relatively near future, so even if I don't get it now there will be other chances. We shall see. ;).

Fickle, material moment

I was sitting here thinking of all of the things I would do if I had more money than I needed to comfortably cover my living expenses. Honestly I can think of very few. I would first visit California more often or travel more in general. I would get electrolysis or some other kind of permanent hair removal. I would have laser eye surgery. I would buy a dog (which, by now, we all know!). I would buy more preppy clothes, too, I am sure. And that's my list. Not long, but I could always find ways to spend more money. Amazing how fickle most of those things are. Getting a dog and travel, especially to see family, are not, to me, fickle, but the others most certainly are. None are horribly expensive, though, so perhaps someday I will have to replace these things with others...

The latest in online trends

So now I am an online karaoke artist. I really only found out about this a few days ago when my sister sent me a link to her page, and I had to create an account to rate her songs and leave feedback. Since I had an account, I might as well record. So I did. If you're up for it, you can find me here.

Making a spectacle of myself...

I said at one point that I would post pictures of myself wearing my glasses that I got in January. I actually wore them today and thought that I might take the time to take some pictures of myself.

Here I am looking like I am up to something:
And here I am trying to look like a "nice girl":
So there you have it. ;)

Time change

I really dislike setting the clocks ahead an hour. I lost an hour of sleep, and that never goes over well with me. Today felt weird from start to finish. I woke up when the clock said it was approximately the same time that I usually get up, but I wasn't ready to get up. My brain, however, decided to start rummaging through various plans for the day, and once the brain starts moving, I know there is no going back to sleep! So I got up and did some stuff, feeling really tired all along, and finally went back to bed. I almost made myself late for work because I set my alarm and then forgot to turn it on. Ooops. I managed to get myself ready and get out the door in time to make it with a few minutes to spare. The day seemed to drag on at work, yet it didn't feel like it was as late as it was. The clocks, in other words, did not fool my body! When 11:00 pm rolled around I was wide awake, so when I got home I spent my night cleaning the kitchen. I had left it a mess the past few days since I was cooking and baking on the run, and once I got going there was really no point in stopping until it was all done. The counters are clean, the stove is clean, there are no dirty dishes, the trash and recycling are all taken out and things look tidy. I had the energy to do it, so why not? I suppose that is one good thing that came from the time change!

Ambition in action

I've heard some news on the job front. Someone who works in the group at work that I would like to move into is actively seeking other job opportunities. Timing of that might mean an open position relatively soon. I will be able to apply for other positions in 15 days. I feel like I have so much to learn, but that hasn't stopped me in the past and I won't let it stop me from at least trying now. I was talking to a co-worker who is in the targeted group and asking about what I could do to learn more. I will probably start learning about networking, and what he suggested is becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate. It's going to take some work, but I have no doubt that the work will pay off in the end. Let the geekiness begin!

"Use it and be blessed"

I received an unsolicited item in the mail today. I decided to replicate the envelope here so that my readers could read what it said on the outside.
Front:
"God's Holy Spirit instructed us to loan you this to start turning things around for you. So, here it is." And also: "Use it and be blessed."
Back:
"Dear God,
With our Bibles opened to St. Matthew 18:19, we humbly and sincerely pray on bended knees for You to anoint this letter with Your precious and holy power to meet the most pressing needs that someone is facing as they open this church letter of prayer.
Heavenly Father, we pray that this one who needs this divine help will write their needs on page two of this letter and will place this blessed, biblical, Acts 19:11, 12, Handkerchief and this sealed Bible prophecy under their side of the bed as they sleep tonight.
Let Thy power from heaven descend upon this home tonight and tomorrow night, after this one has mailed their most pressing needs back to this 56-year-old church ministry. We pray that they will break open this sealed prophecy after sunset tomorrow. Amen."

Let's just say that I did not exactly follow the directions. Enclosed was a letter explaining how the Bible instructs ministers to send Bible faith handkerchiefs to people's homes. It contained a "loaned" (does he want it back?) "paper, Bible faith handkerchief for something good to happen to you." The "handkerchief is a piece of paper with a pattern printed on both sides. It is a standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper that looks more like a very small, cheap place mat than anything else. I read on and found out that I was supposed to print my name in the middle of it and the name of someone that I really love who needs God's help under my name. Then I'm supposed to fill out the form on the back that allows me to pray for such things as To be saved, a better job, confusion in my home (why would I want that?), a money blessing, or "I am sowing my seed gift to God's work of $_______". I then take the handkerchief with my name on it and someone else's name on it and put it inside my Bible on top of Acts 19:11-12, put it under my side of the bed, and sleep with it there for tonight and tonight only. In the morning, I am to put the handkerchief with the names and my little prayer form in an envelope marked "The Next Morning" (which I prefer to call the "morning after envelope") and mail it to the ministry. After sunset tomorrow night, after the morning after envelope and its contents have been mailed, I am supposed to open a sealed Bible prophecy. If I do not do the above and do not mail the handkerchief back, I am told that I must destroy the prophecy, "unopened and unread, because this is of a spiritual nature."

Also included were testimonials from people who used this special system and had wonderful results from it. And the unsealed sealed prophecy. Yes, I said unsealed. It was a sheet of paper with cheesy, somewhat fuzzy paintings of Jesus, folded over like a normal letter, with a sticker seal set off center and no longer sticking to the paper enough to actually seal anything. A glance at it told me that it was full of more excessive use of bold and underlined fonts, and had a heading on it that said, "A sign from the Lord about your future." The prophecy was, for all I could tell, something that came from someone at the church, and had a grand total of one biblical reference in it. O me of little faith. It's going in the trash now. Opened. Partially read. Unsealed. The handkerchief is going with it.

Provision, responsibility, temptation

I was reviewing finances and budget last night. I am one of those people who believes that if we are not irresponsible with our money that God will provide what we need to get by. I'm doing alright this month with the finances, for sure. I paid all of my bills for this month except rent, and because I pay all of the common bills my rent check is usually pretty low (in other words I pay rent/2 - common bills/2). Our electric bill was much higher than usual due to the really cold weather we got last month, so my rent this month is less than $200. I have two paychecks coming between now and then and the one coming on Thursday is much higher than usual. I am also expecting my tax refunds to come sometime this month. The extra money is great, but the question is what to do with it. I know what it is going to go to, honestly. I need to pay off debt. The question is which debt to pay down and how much money to save for the near future when the last of my student loans comes out of its grace period. The new monthly payment for that one lender alone is equivalent to what I am giving to the church every month right now. I am doing fine paying all of my bills now because I have been really careful about how I have been spending my money and right now am able to predict fairly well how much I'll have to pay for everything monthly. That extra expense means that I have to be really careful. I crunched the numbers. If I make the same amount of money in June that I do on average now, my income will cover everything except giving to the church. Not giving is not an option, so I am going to have to use my extra money now very wisely to put myself in a position where my income covers everything. I need less debt, not more, and I will not stop giving back to God in gratitude for what He has given me, especially when I know very well that I can easily make up the difference by working a few extra hours every week. If that's what it takes, I'll do it.

Books and covers

Things are not always what they seem, and every story has multiple sides to it. I appreciate the clarity that comes from hearing the other side, but even so I tend to see things from my own perspective. The same story played out with different characters will yield a different response from me. Some things will bother me regardless, but to what degree I actually find myself concerned for the players is based on the degree to which I see them threatened by their own actions. It is easy to be wise on behalf of other people, but if I found myself with the same choices in front of me would I have done the same thing? I would like to think that I would not, but sometimes we never know until it comes how we will respond. Bottom line is still this: if you don't feel like you can be completely honest about something you choose to do, you probably shouldn't be doing it. I'm being cryptic again! ;)

Stupidity

I am reading 10 Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. It's a book my mother sent me just after Christmas. She also sent me Dr. Laura's book The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, which I have not yet read and may leave on the shelf for a little while. Dr. Laura is a secular voice, but she has a lot of practical wisdom. For example, she is very much against couples living together before they are married. I like that about her! There were a few quotes from what I have read so far that I particularly enjoyed that I will post here.

If you kiss a toad, you don't get a prince--you get slime in your mouth and bad memories (p. 53).

Granted, there are no psychiatric diagnostic categories for laziness, immaturity, cowardice, selfishness, and downright stupidity. Even if there were, it wouldn't matter because no one bothers to consider them anymore. Know why? In the Age of the Victim, nothing is anybody's fault! (p. xviii)

To refuse to learn anything that could prove beneficial to yourself is a working definition of stupid (p. 6).

Real love is a long marination of qualities having to do with respect, admiration, appreciation, character, affection, cooperation, honor and sacrifice (p. 55).

Random notes

1. My sister called me yesterday and told me that her ultrasound appointment is set for March 29 (the day before my birthday), and it is then that she will find out whether she is going to have a boy or a girl. Apparently that same day one of my college roommates will also have her ultrasound appointment and find out that same information. I didn't even know she was pregnant until my sister told me about it. It seems that everyone is having babies these days!

2. Sometimes I need a little gentle nudge to remind me what I value, and I am grateful for those nudges and the perspective they put on things.

3. I found something out today that really bothers me. Dishonesty can only make things worse, and it certainly did in this situation.

4. I learned this week that a friend from home is getting married. My mother is the one who told me about it, and she thought I already knew. I am beginning to realize how time and distance have really separated me from my friends out there. I am a horrible correspondent!

5. I was looking through a book catalog today to see if there was anything there to add to my wish list for my birthday. My brother-in-law pointed out to me at Christmas that there was nothing but DVDs on the list before. That has changed. I now have cookbooks and a few other books, too. Looking at the books reminded me that I have several books on my shelves that I have not yet read. I like to read, so I am going to start doing more of that again. All of the unread books make me feel a little bit weird about asking for more books, though. I have enough to keep me going for some time as it is!

6. God is good. I don't usually understand what He's up to. What I know is that when He speaks I would do well to listen. Lately He's been saying that we need to spend more time together. It has taken me long enough to get the message, since He's been saying it for a long time. I never mean to ignore God, but I too often let life go on without paying heed to its source.

7. I am getting a little bit of a travel bug again. I want to go places and see things and visit people I don't see often. I don't know what I'll actually be able to afford, but I will consider my options. I think I might go to North Carolina for a long weekend sometime. Mapquest tells me it's about 600 miles, so it's definitely a feasible trip. I have an uncle and aunt and a cousin and her family down there, and I might just have to put them on my calendar for a weekend. I have an e-mail address for the aunt and uncle, and I should probably use it and establish a little bit of communication with them.

8. I haven't gotten my hair cut in about a year now. That's really not good for the hair, but it means that it's a lot longer than I had it before. I don't know how long I'll let it get now. I doubt I would grow it out as long as it used to be. In any case, I need to get a trim. I don't know if I will get it highlighted again or just settle for the natural color. I'm thinking natural and no more than two inches off. ;)

9. My trip home is less than 7 months away now. I am really looking forward to it! My parents are supposed to come out here in May. We plan to go to Gettysburg and New York. A battlefield and a baseball game. That's less than 3 months away. I haven't seen my family in 10 months, so it will be so nice to see my parents twice in one year!