Sick Day

So today I stayed home sick. Which was rather frustrating seeing as I have no sick days! But I felt terrible all night, and when I got up to take a shower I got really tired and started having cold chills. So, I figured if a shower wears me out, I have no business going to work!

I pretty much slept on and off all afternoon. I feel a little better now so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to go to work and eat some food. I'm running on saltine crackers and Powerade!

So, you want to work with people...

Bill Cosby spoke at a convention I attended a year or so ago. He made us all laugh with his comments on HR. One in particular stands out right now. He said, 'So you decided when you were in college that you wanted to work with people. Then you graduated and MET the people...."

Today I feel like I 'met the people.' I like my job. I really do. But today was a really grumpy day. I won't go into detail, but let's just say I ever so briefly considered a job that was NOT working with people. Long-term, I would hate that. But today, it would have been nice.

Pride

Last night I watched the movie "Save the Last Dance." There is an interesting scene towards the end where one of the main characters is trying to convince his friend not to do something stupid. The friend responds by saying, look I don't have med school waiting for me. All I have is my dignity. And that's what I have to protect.

Okay so that's part one. Part two:
I ended up reading parts of Jonah as my devotional. It struck me that pride was also what he was struggling with. He had told the town that they would all die, and now, thanks to God's mercy and their repentance, they were going to live. He felt like he looked stupid. And because of it he just wanted to sit out in the heat and die.

It's funny how our pride affects us. It can cause us to do stupid things, or to be upset about really good things.

I think pride is one of the most difficult things to overcome. It forces us to admit weakness and be vunerable. But think how much frustration and trouble could be avoided if more people where strong enough to be humble.

Everywhere I go, there I am

Today was one of those days. Where everything just felt overwhelming and confusing. Sometimes I can see the "future" clearly and I feel confident and sure of myself and my steps . I know what I should do next. But sometimes I get tired and things start to look blurry. It's those times when it's helpful to have another person to remind me that things will be okay. You know, many times I can be that strong person who steps in and helps other people figure out the direction they should take. But there are times when I need someone to do that for me. I think everyone needs that.

Anyways. I think I've done enough thinking/packing/tv watching for today so I'm headed to bed. Night.

Forgiveness

So, here's my question. Is it possible to forgive someone who does not ask for it? I'm not talking about holding a grudge or being bitter as the alternative; clearly its important to be able to let go of things and move on. But if someone is never sorry, can they really be forgiven?

I've thought a bit about this topic since I heard a sermon on it at church. It was recently brought to mind again by an acquaintence of mine. This person lost their temper with me and was rather offensive to me a week or so ago. We used to be somewhat friends, the kind that talk and have lunch. But since this happenened, things are not the same with us. I'm not rude to him or anything. I'm over it. I just no longer have the desire to inititate conversation. I feel pretty sure that if an apology was made, I'd feel much more free to act as friends again. But since nothing of the kind has occured, I just don't feel the desire to go beyond casual conversation. Does this mean I have not forgiven him? Or is my reaction just the natural result of "broken trust."

Any thoughts?

Vacation

So I really need to go on a vacation. A real vacation. My last attempt at a vacation included getting stuck in Cancun during a hurricane for a week. Not really wanting to do that one again. But that was still a year ago! I do travel a lot for work and I've gone home quite a few times so it's not like I've been stuck in one place for a year. But I'm really feeling like taking a trip somewhere fun for a long weekend. Hopefully that will work out soon!

I have an odd cat

Some of you are already agreeing. Bisous is a special one. For instance, she doesn't really do well with dairy products. I learned this one the hard way. However, she LOVES carbs. She gets very happy when I feed her things like crackers or crusts, or chips. I don't give her too much people food, but I'll treat her every know and then. She also likes hummus. I haven't figured that one out yet. Maybe she has a salty tooth. Well, she's adorable anyways!

Happy Fourth Of July!

Here are some pictures from our cookout at Valeries house. We had a great time and the food was wonderful! I was rather proud of my flag dessert. :)
I am also glad to be alive after almost being a victim of the fireworks not once but twice. My favorite near death experience had to be Eli somehow throwing the bottle rocket in my direction. Luckily I have fast enough reflexes so that I was able to drop to the grass without any damage. Who let Eli have a bottle rocket anyways?! Happy Fourth of July!

In case you are ever bitten by a snake...

I learned something new yesterday. I went to a Vespers program hosted by a nature guy who has done things like catch aligators and study bears for 7 years. He said that if you are ever bitten by a land snake, the best thing to do is to shock the area that was bitten. It does something with changing the communication or structure of something in your arm, and it heals it much better and faster then the anti-venum that the hospital gives out. He said that the anti-venum kills as many people as the snake bite does. He actually owns a stun gun for the very purpose of shocking himself when he gets bitten by bees, snakes, and whatever else.
Now, I have to intentions of testing out this little theory, however it's a good little bit of information to store away just in case!

Counting your blessings

I talked with a friend of mine today who recently got fired for not working on the Sabbath. She was hired on with a schedule of working part time Mon-Thurs and did this for 5 weeks. Then suddenly her manager decided that she should work on Sabbath, even though she said she could not from the beginning. I'm surprised when I hear things like this. After all, employers aren't supposed to discrimate against religious beliefs. They are supposed to make reasonable accommodations. But I guess it doesn't always happen that way. It made me realize how blessed I am to work for an organization that encourages my Sabbath rest. Thank-you Florida Hospital!

Hurricane season

On the main page of weather.com today it annonced that there were no tropical threats. And went on to say" Tropical cyclone formation is not anticipated over the next day or two in either the Atlantic or eastern Pacific."

Does anybody else worry about the fact that it is worthy to note that there are NO hurricanes headed our way? I know that a hurricane makes the news. But now the lack of a hurricane is making the news....

Kristin's Wedding

Off to Texas

I'm headed to Texas for the weekend! And yes, I do travel a lot. I know that's what you are thinking right now!

Anyways. Kristin is walking down the the asile this weekend and a bunch of us are headed out to a) walk with her, or b) attend the wedding/take pictures of it! I haven't spent a lot of time in Texas, so hopefully it will be a fun trip. I'll try to post some pics when I get back :)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Sabbath afternooon

So this afternoon I decided to lie down for a little nap. I wasn't sure I was going to ever actually fall asleep because I also read a little and then two of my friends called. But I must have because I had a dream. I don't remember a whole lot except that I was hanging out with some friends at Val's house. And Val, I must subconciously think that you have a really nice house because in my dream we lived on a lake with nice picnic tables outside! But, the odd thing was as I was walking up to the door I thought to myself, I'm not really doing this. I'm not really walking. I'm actually asleep. And the dreamy Kristen was surprised by this. But sure enough I woke up and found myself groggy and in my bed. So, I'm making coffee!

My work group

Eternal LIfe

So I watched the Alias finale last night. Overall it was rather disappointing. The only thing I really liked about the show was the ending with Sydney and Vaughn on the beach. However, I thought it was interesting that one of the culmination of the of the major plot lines of the last 5 years was Sloane's (bad guy) quest for eternal life. He spent his whole life, millions of dollars, and countless lives solving a puzzle that in the end made him immortal. Unfortunately for him (good for the rest of the world) he got to spend eternity under a pile of concrete all alone. But it got me thinking, it's amazing what people will do, and have done in real history, in hopes of enternal life. And even more amazing to think that eternal life can be ours if we want it, we just have to accept the gift.

Zodiac Signs

So my co-workers and I got into an interesting conversation one the way back from lunch today. Keep in mind that most of them are Christians. They started talking about people's signs (Like Leo, Picses) and saying that they thought there was some truth to the characteristics. Like there is some evidence that the tide pool and the first impression you get of the world around you when you are born, affects your personality. I have always thought that it was a bunch of crap. I think birth order, environment, choices, genes, and experiences can shape your personality. But the month you were born in? Seriously?

Does anyone have an opinion on this? Is there any scientific proof that people born in the same month do in fact share some common characteristics?

Congratulations Amanda!

Believe

It's easy to praise you
When all the blessings flow
It's easy to trust you
When I feel in control

But in valleys and in darkness
I seem to lose my way
I stumble and I falter
And I don't know what to pray

Lord I believe, but I think I'm falling
And I'm not sure I can see
Lord I believe, but I feel I'm losing
Lord I believe, please help my unbelief

I know that you have plans for me
And I know that they are good
And if I could erase my fears
Lord, you know I would

But tonight it seems I'm failing
And giving into rain
So Father please restore me
And grant me peace again

Lord I believe, but the way is cloudy
And I'm not sure I can see
So please guide these faltering footsteps
And help me to believe

Charlotte

I'm currently in Charlotte, NC for an Occupational Therapy Career Fair. It seems to be a nice city, although quite a bit cooler than Orlando!
I had some free time this afternoon so I went to the mall. I thought this mall was just a few minutes away, and by car, it probably would have been. But being that I did not have a car, I too the bus. And apparently the wrong bus because it took me almost 45 minutes to get there! On the way I was mildly amused by the bus driver and her very loud friend. They talked the entire time and actually called people "baby" and "sugar."
Luckily I had a shorter trip back. It was a nice mall though. I found some good sales and made one especially exciting purchase :)

Okay, I'm off to the event. I made a gift basket with Florida stuff: sun tan lotien, key lime pie cheese sticks, sunflowers, and brightly colored innertubes in a nice blue bowl.