422 Reasons

So, I got a list at work today of 422 reasons why I am loved at work. It was nice to see that I am loved at work. It cheered me up. I'll share a couple of them. #37-She makes me read the funny Dilbert cartoons. #45-She shared her crackers with me one day when I was hungry. #78-She has an awesome giggle. I always knew something fun was happening when I heard her giggle from her desk. #114-She doesn't make me feel stupid. #185-She is always happy (or at least fakes it really well). #188-I love how Shawnee can cracker herself up! It makes me laugh right along with her!

The list really only went to 205, but they tried real hard to get to 422. The reason for the number 422 is that I had a list going of 422 reasons why I am not married. They wanted to make sure I knew I was loved. My girls at work, and the faculty, are great!

So Tired

This week my body has decided it wants to be extra-tired. This means that I have sat at my desk at work and felt bone-weary all day, every day. Yesterday was the worst of it. I was so tired that I cried when everyone asked how I was doing. Sad, eh? I am looking forward to Christmas when I'll be able to catch up on my sleep (hopefully). I feel bad because when I'm tired I become a grump. Then I tend to grump on people. Not a good way to keep friends. At least my friends are kind and understanding. I had a rehearsal last night for our ward Christmas stuff. I sat at the piano and tried not to cry. Anytime someone wanted to start over again, I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn't scream. I wasn't completely successful. I was a bit grumpy. I have no plans this weekend, other than a tiny bit of homework. I plan on sleeping----A LOT!

Continued

Reason #6 My sneezes are not very lady-like
#7 I usually wear my hair in a pony tail
#8 I often make scary faces at friends (other people are passing by and become scared)
#9 I'm not an animal lover
#10 I've been told that I am intimidating. But others have told me I'm too shy. So, it seems I have a dual personality. This could also be a problem.

Reasons

So, I've decided to make a list of possible reasons to why I am not married. My list needs to reach 422. I told my parent this weekend that reason #422 of why I'm not married is because I can't sleep in a normal bed because it hurts by back too much. I sleep on my couch because it gives me something to lean against. Since they don't make queen sized couches, I doubt anyone will want to marry me. Other possible reasons include:

#1 My sense of humor is a bit warped
#2 I am random
#3 My fingers are short and stubby (I'm sure men prefer long and elegant fingers)
#4 My feet are short and blocky (I'm sure men prefer non-blocky feet)
#5 I don't know how to flirt

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Hazards

Initiative

I've been trying to take more initiative in my life lately, rather than having to be commanded (or told) in all things. I've decided that a person needs to be careful when trying to take initiative. Say in a work setting. Now most of you know that my work situtation isn't the most pleasant. I was told a few weeks ago that I don't take enough initiative in my job. Now the tough part of this is that the one who told me that won't let me take any initiative to accomplish anything unless she commands (or tells) me to. It's a bit of a backward situation. I've decided I would prefer to be commanded in all things at work so that I don't get into trouble. I'm still trying to decide where I can take more initiative in my own life. Any suggestion? ;)

Half Birthday

I am officially 29 1/2. To think that I am close to 30 kind of freaks me out. It's hard to imagine. I have to admit that in my early teens I thought 30 was old. Now I KNOW it's not true.

I got a new laptop this week. It's so nice to be able to have access to everything wherever I go. I love it. The mouse that came with it is about 1/2 the size of a normal one. It's more cute than useful. ;)

40 days until I'm done working. I can't wait until Christmas break. It will be the first real break I've had in so long. It'll be glorious.

Freshmen

My Biology class had its first test this last week. Last night we met for the first time since the test. Talk about a bunch of whiny freshman! They all 'suggested' that our teacher create a study guide so they can know what will be on each test and what to study. They claimed there was too much imformation to study for the test. Mind you, we had only met 4 times before the test (once a week). Pretty much they were not happy with their scores and were trying to find excuses why they did poorly. I made a comment on how giving a study guide specifically for a test is useless in learning. With a study guide, students don't learn but only memorize for a test. I was almost flogged after class. Okay, not really, but I felt hate stares being thrown at my head. The teacher had to give a lecture on what is required in a class and that if people are only giving the minimum effort, they are going to get a minimum score. I felt a little bad that he had to be giving this lecture, but then I realized that it was a freshman class (a bunch of whiners who haven't realized that college is harder than highschool). I think everyone left a little more humble, realizing that they really didn't put forth their full effort. Hopefully the whining goes down a notch next time. A person can only handle so much!

Compelled to be Humble

It's been a week of being compelled to be humble. It seems that everywhere I turn I am being told to repent. I'm trying! It started out over the weekend with general conference. I know there were other messages told, but I just heard that I'm wicked. ;) This week in my scripture study, it seems that no matter which page I turn to, the highlighted words on the page are telling me to repent. I've tried to find pages without those words, but they don't seem to exist this week. The lesson I'm teaching on Sunday is about reconciling ourselves with God, basically repentance. I almost threw the book onto the floor when I saw the title. I get it already--I am wicked! Last night I was feeling -- I am not sure how to describe it. Pretty much I was tired of being told that I was wicked. I needed some love. Finally, I was flipping through my scriptures and came to D&C 6:33-36, which reads as follows:

33 Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward.
34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.
35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.
36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Just what I needed. A reminder that I need to be focused on Christ and not how dumb I am sometimes (okay, most of the time). Comfort indeed. I was feeling good when I went to bed last night. Then this morning, I woke up at 7:52. I'm supposed to be to work by 7:30. Hopefully I don't get into more trouble than I already am at work. Guess we'll see how the day pans out.

Prayer of the Faithful

So, I was lying in bed last week around midnight, trying to go to sleep. (Usually I am so tired by 10:30 I don't have much of a problem going to sleep. Last week was completely different. I didn't get tired until after midnight each night.) I kept thinking, "Heavenly Father, I have been praying to be able to go to bed early and wake up early in order to get the most of each day. Why am I not able to go to sleep?" The thought then came to me that I am praying to go to sleep, but I wonder if someone else is praying that I'll be able to stay up late in order to finish my homework and all that I have to get done. I found out that my parent's have greater faith than I do. It was their prayers that were being answered. I thought it ironic that they would be asking for something along the same lines as me, but just a different time frame of the day. I have set them straight. They are now praying that I can fall asleep around 11 and wake up around 6:30. So far, it's worked. You just gotta make sure that the people with real faith are asking for the things you need. Since my faith is still week, I will be going to my parents for much help in the prayer area.

Prayer definately works. I have been having some troubles at work lately, and it all came to a head on Friday. I had a bit of a tought conversation with a coworker. They wanted to discuss the rest of it today. All weekend I was sick about the conversation that was to be. I went to the temple on Friday night, had my brother give me a blessing, and my family has been praying with me all weekend that things would work out okay. I must say that I was surprised, even though I shouldn't have been, that things really were okay today. I think part of it was my attitude, knowing that this coworking doesn't have control over that. I know that the majority of it was the prayers by my family. I am so grateful that they are willing to petition Heavenly Father in my behalf. It really has worked for me. Now if the prayers about a boy named Tyler will come true. . . .:)

3ToeJoe

Every day when I drive home from work I see a car whose liscense plate says 3ToeJoe. I've often wondered who Joe is and how he got his 3 toes. Last night I had a bit of an experience that may suggest one reason why. I was doing my grociery shopping, trying to buy healthier food, when my pinky toe on my left foot caught on the wheel of the shopping cart. Talk about instant pain! My eyes teared up and I tried very hard not to yell, as there were shoppers only about 3 feet away from me. I didn't want to scare anyone out of the frozen food isle. It wasn't just the toe that got caught, but the nail, as well. It throbbed all night, and this morning it looks like the nail might actually fall off soon. So now I have more compassion for whoever 3ToeJoe is. Be sure to watch out for grociery carts!

A first of many

The weekend, I think, is a first of many time-consuming events. Friday evening was spent helping a friend paint at a new children's museum in town. We were supposed to go to dinner and a movie, but the painting took quite a long time. That's usually what you get when there are 5 people trying to do one job. The movie was ousted, and we just went to dinner after the painting spree. We still had a good time. Saturday was a long day. I woke up early for a literature conference we had on campus. I left early so that I could meet up with Patricia and her kids for a few hours. I would have liked to spend more time with them, but I still had a million and one things to do. From there I went to Marianne's to do laundry, prepare a lesson, and do homework. Amazingly, they all got done. For the most part, anyway. I still have homework to do, but I got a good chunk done that night. - I think the rest of my weekends during the semester will take on a similar format. Because my weeks are taken with classes, everything else gets pushed to the weekend. I wish there were 3 more hours in a day so that I could get everything done that I need to. Guess I had better start applying my time management skills. Ba humbug.

The life of a zombie

So, my life has turned into a zombie-like state where I'm walking around in a sleep-like coma wondering why I run my life the way I do. School has begun, making my time limited for sleep. I have classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I have institue on Wednesdays, FHE on Monday, and usually something planned for Friday. I get to read 20 novels this semester for my YA lit class, learn about DNA and genentics, and learn to apply the doctrines found in the D&C. By the time I get to bed, my brain is on overload from the day and so it takes a long time (usually over an hour) to process the day enough to fall asleep. Then, my body likes to wake up every few hours. (I'm guessing to make sure that it's still alive.) By the time the alarm goes off in the morning, I feel like I haven't had much sleep at all. Then I go to work and wish I was asleep or in class. While in class I wish I was asleep, but grateful I'm not at work. And when I am asleep, I dream of class and work. Sounds like a horror movie, huh? I think I'm starting to look like a zombie, too. Except my hair doesn't stand on end because it's too greasy (I don't have time to wash it). At the end of each day I start to wonder what I have gotten myself into. Do I really want to go to grad school? Undergrad seems bad enough. I'm too old for this. People my age usually just turn into vegitables infront of the TV. Instead, I turn into a veg at work, in class, pretty much anywhere except when it's time to sleep. Then all of a sudden the brain kicks into overdrive remembering all of the things I didn't get done that day because I forgot in my zombie-like stupor. Just a warning to all: don't expect me to be a human for the next decade. School doesn't make me feel much smarter, just more tired.

Labor Day Weekend

My Labor Day weekend was full of labor. My mom came to visit and we spent a few hours 'de-junking' my apartment. We took a large load of clothes and books to DI. I will miss the books more than the clothes, I think. Having that many books makes me look smarter. After we did that, we went to Mark and Shayla's new house to drop off a chair. We then spent the rest of the day shopping. It was a full day. Sunday we went to lunch at Marianne's and dinner at Mark's. We ate very well this weekend. She went home yesterday. I was sad to see her go. She made me some of her yummy roles. I'm glad that she came and visited.