All The Leaves Are (Not Yet) Brown

But, the sky has been quite gray here. We have had a lot of rain. According to The Weather Channel, areas of Arkansas have about a four inch surplus of rain, with an expected one or two inches on the way within the next few days. The Weather Channel is really cool, though I don't watch it as much as I used to. Now it is more of a quickie wardrobe adjustment tool, to be sure that I do not freeze, fry, or drown as I dash about town. I have even watched Storm Stories a few times, though quite a while ago. Though I have joked about how enthralling and exciting it is to watch the weather channel (you're just on the edge of your seat!), I really do like to try to decipher the different maps, radars, and readings that they broadcast.

It may boil down to my brain being wired for scientific inquiry, but I like almost anything with a science behind it: my chemistry class, my anatomy and physiology class, CSI, science-action movies, Discovery Health Channel, some PBS documentaries, and a lot of Little Sister's exploration/explanation books. Mind, Little Sister is only seven years old. The other day, she got out one of her books about sharks(which she really likes) and asked me to read it to her. It had words that I had only heard in my biology class, like cephalopod, and plenty more words that I hadn't heard of at all! But she's also the owner of a very inquisitive little mind. I honestly believe that each child birthed by my mother was successively smarter than the last. And this may open up the Nature/Nurture argument, but we have also had a rich, vibrant upbringing. A little bit crazy as well, but as Mr. Wonka said, "A little nonsense now and then is treasured by the wisest men."

So, I will go study for my Anatomy and Physiology lab final while listening to the soft pattering of rain in the background, and look forward to driving to school in the morning. The changing leaves are beautiful down that road.

Scrooge Was Right, When He Was Drunk

I do not in anyway condone drinking, just to let you know. But, I have been thinking about all the things that I want to write. If you have read or seen any version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, you probably remember his encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Present, who had him drink from a cup that contained "the milk of human kindness." In one version, with Albert Finney in the lead role, Scrooge becomes quite plummed and sings a song with the cheery apparition that goes something like, "I like life, life likes me, life and I nearly fully agree." There's more to it, but I think that I truly agree with the basic sentiment: I LIKE LIFE! Sometimes I can't help it, especially when I think of all the things that I enjoy, or when I am busy doing all those things that I enjoy. Granted, there are times when I do not have such a Pollyanna attitude (like when I am hacking up my lungs at work and hoping that my supervisors aren't staring daggers into the back of my head), but most of the time I do try to find that silver lining. This perspective has been nurtured by my family and friends as well, even if they don't fully realize it.

This also may give some explanation to my appreciation of all the oddball, off-the-wall, crazy things that I like. For instance, I am listening to the soundtrack to Chocolat, with it's soft flute and sweeping strings. It has a sort of ethereal sound at times, like you're walking through a fairy forest in a dream, or you're watching a unicorn walk along a brook from your hiding place behind the untamed honeysuckle. On the next track you're strolling through an indian market, silk draping your shoulders and trailing behind you in the jasmine-scented breeze as you make your way to the square to watch the storytellers. And you can't help but have a little swagger and bring your eyes up into a smile above your veil. Okay, yeah, I know. But I keep myself entertained. Another thing that I like: the movie Fairytale:A True Story. It's a very good movie. You should go watch it right now. That way I can stop typing and go eat dinner. Happy viewing!

NOTE: To those of you who know me, no teasing! Otherwise, raspberries to you!

¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!

Hoy es el cuarto jueves de noviembre: ¡el Día de Acción de Gracias! Soy agradecido para el pavo, la torta de calabaza, las batatas, la salsa de arándano, el pan de maíz, y especialmente mi familia.

I am not certain that my Spanish is correct, but roughly:

Today is the fourth Thursday in November: Thanksgiving Day! I am thankful for turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn bread, and especially my family.

Well, I hope that it is correct. I have SOO many things to be thankful for that I should probably stick to my native language now to express my gratitude. First things first, who am I expressing my gratitude to? I think that my thanks is being given to the same One that received it last year, two years ago, and however many years ago it was that the pilgrims gave Him thanks. I am still grateful to God for every blessing that He has bestowed to me and in me, especially the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, being born of a virgin, dying for my sins that I might have a right relationship with Him. Thank you Lord!

I am Thankful for:

1. having today to live
   
2. smelling the turkey that Grandma is cooking in the oven
   
3. the family that I will be eating dinner with in a little while
   
4. the family that won't be here to eat dinner with, but I still love them
   
5. my church family
   
6. my BBB
   
7. the fact that my sister likes my poetry
   
8. we can choose whether we want to watch the Macy's Day Parade or James and the Giant Peach
   
9. the sibs and I will be able to visit with our Dad on Saturday
   
10. my school marks are pretty good, so far
    
11. our kitty cat that got out yesterday morning came back in last night!
    
12. my cold is dissipating!
    

Honestly, there are SOO many more things to be thankful for, like jungle gyms and monkey bars, video rental stores, a job, a running car, good teachers, kind coworkers, the Best Bestest Best Buddy in the Whole world! And lets not forget electricity, tissues, the internet, Blogger.com, the computer CD player, Sara Groves' CD Conversations, and comfy, black sweat pants that are wonderful for lounging around the house in. May God bless you greatly today, no matter how little or how much you have!

Dogs Just Get a Bad Rap

Well, it is the day before the celebration of Thanksgiving in America, and I am thankful for many things. None of which is the worsening cold that I have been nursing since Monday evening. It caused me to leave work early Monday, call in on Tuesday, and I am currently attempting to enjoy life as much as I normally try to while coughing, wheezing and spitting up varying shades of phlegm. I know, I probably shouldn't entertain you with the gross facts, I forgot that not everyone is as morbidly inclined as yours truly, especially when she is sick.

But, I do feel an obligation to keep my adoring public up to date, as this appears to be their wish. I actually don't mind being sick too much, I just don't really like all of the things that come along with it. Some people say that they enjoy pain because it helps them to remember that they are human. I suppose that I am similarly minded when it comes to being sick. I am normally quite healthy and in some weird way enjoy the reprieve. And I do think that dogs get a bad rap; how many dogs do you know that are always sick, or always coughing, sneezing, and hacking up myriad other lovely little things around the house? So why do we say, "sick as a dog?" I just don't understand.

As far as I can tell, the sum of my symptoms are 1)a sore throat, 2)a sprinting nose, 3)upset stomach, 4)mild earache, 5)mild chest and arm pain (which may be from the exercises the day previous), 6)and a feeling like my head is full of wood shavings, though not so much today. When I wasn't evaluating the green-yellow-orange-brown spectrum pooring forth from my nasal passages, I spent most of the time sleeping. This was a very comforting experience as I have been skimping on sleep of late, which is probably one of the reasons that I AM sick. This could be seen as cruel irony.

Enough of that. I do have some work to do in preparation for tomorrow, and I probably should be praying that our kitty that ran out this morning gets back soon and that my grades don't plummet (Brother says that this is a double intimation, as "plummet" means "to fall from a high place," or something to that effect, therefore inferring that my grades are currently high :) this semester. I will try to post tomorrow on what I am thankful for. There are many, many things to be thankful for. Even this blasted cold.

Security Updates

Well, with everything that's going on the world, one must stay up to speed or one will be trampled by left-brained elephants that have escaped from the zoo. Don't ask.

Considering the most recent news of Colin Powell's resignation as Secretary of State and Condoleeza Rice being considered for the position, I am left wandering who will be the National Security Adviser. From listening to NPR I know that there are a few people being considered, but what if there is a lag, a window when we will not officially have a National Security Adviser.

Contemplating these heavy subjects has prompted me to look at my own personal security. I am certainly not paranoid, yet, but I know that even when we think things are harmless, that's when we get run over by wildly stampeding left-hemisphere dominant pachiderms. So I have decided to make the decision to limit comments on my blog to those who are registered with blogger.com. There have been comments posted to some of my entries that are disconcerting at the least. I understand that the intentions of posters may be harmless, but I have learned to live by the motto, "Better safe than sorry."

This may offput some of my dear friends who do not have accounts but wish to engage in discourse over the content of my entries. Okay, I DO have a big head and know that you probably aren't THAT interested, but if you are, and if you do want to discuss any of these topics, just send me an e-mail and I will be glad to reply. I am sorry to those who were just trying to have fun and may be hurt by this policy, but I also thank you for understanding and hope that you will continue to enjoy my clever wit. In fact, I would encourage you to open your own blogger account, if you so desire. It is a wonderful way to funnel brain burps, tickle your friends' and family members' funnybones, and to just get things out that might otherwise just fester inside and get all moldy. Moldy ideas don't bring much to fruition.

There is a major drawback though: my REAL diary is quite lonely. I think that I will go give it some company and poor some of my marvelous thoughts into it right now.

Stupidity is a Lot Easier

Well, it's getting down to the last few weeks of the semester. Right now, stupidity would be so much easier. I could just blow off all of my classes, maybe go to work, and spend more time with my family, my friends, and the long list of books I need to/want to read. But, as I have learned from good friends who have lifetimes of experience, stupidity doesn't pay very well. I suppose that I don't really want to be stupid, but lazy. Unfortunately, laziness doesn't pay much better.

So many things in life would can seem so hard to deal with at times. I personally have nothing to complain about. I am SO blessed by God. But, there are times when dealing with things like finances, interpersonal relationships, intrapersonal relationships, I just kind of wonder what I am supposed to do. BBB and Sister are good sounding boards; they both listen and tell me what they honestly think. They are also very smart and very understanding. For instance, I am up this early because my sister and I accidently woke each other up a little bit before 5:00 this morning. We started talking and didn't really try to get back to sleep, until about 20 or 30 minutes ago. I tried, but gave up. I will be able to make it up later.

But, I didn't really want to go back to bed just yet because it was good talking with Sister. I also talked with BBB last night over the telephone. Honestly, she puts up with a lot from me. I am sometimes a little bit annoying. As you can certainly tell, it's not THAT often, but it has been known to happen.

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Well, I am going to try to be a good, productive student and work on some school work. I like Anatomy and Physiology! Don't you? Yes, let us join books and study Anatomy and Physiology. (Don't look at me like that, I think it's fun. *big grin*)

My Sister Should Be a Storyteller

For two evenings now, before the light has gone out in the room of my sister and myself, the heavens have shaken and the gale winds have blown. We fought. They were really more like spats. The first crossing of powers was the night before last. I wanted to spread the blankets out evenly and asked for her help. She had already lay down and was warm and comfortable. She felt that she could easily assist me from her reclining position and I felt that she would be more help if she got up out of bed. We both admitted afterwards that it was a petty thing to fight about. I would like to say that hormonal spikes can do that to a young lady, but I really could have made the bed quite easily on my own and not upset the both of us.

Last night's tango was not as long, but I believe that it was a little more heated. She was ready to lie down and get as much sleep as she could (not a nice, full eight hours even) before having to get up, shower, and get to school this morning. She had already brushed her teeth and made herself ready for turning in. I turned on the small lamp and headed for the door. She promptly reached over and turned OFF the small lamp. (Again, I would like to add the "hormonal spike" disclaimer to the following skirmish, but if I had just kept on and gone to the bathroom to brush my teeth, any unpleasantness could have been avoided, but...) I stopped right where I was, turned to face her (which was silly since we were now in the dark), and told her to turn the lamp back on. She asked why. For some reason this really started to make me hot under the collar, and it was probably only 65 degrees in that room. I told her that I was just going to wash my face and brush my teeth and then I too would be ready to go to bed, but I would like the lamp on to get back to the bed. "I can make it to the bed just fine without the lamp on," she replied, or something along those lines.

We were not amused with her poorly veiled accusations that we were being "High and Mighty" that we could not make it to our side of the bed without the lamp to guide our every dainty footstep. You see the blatant finger-pointing, don't you? Well, we quickly pointed out the boxes, stuffed animals, and other harmful debris awaiting our approach, plotting our demise. "And," we pointed out,"those are not [our] stuffed animals or [our] boxes that are littered about haphazardly, just begging [us] to break something!" Being as wise as we are, we should have known that words spoken in heated haste are often greatly mistaken. Some of those boxes, most of them, really were ours, mine. Sister pointed this fact out and I just told her to keep the lamp on because, "I said so." This also led to the accusation that I was being bossy all night. Sister has a knack for telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I had told her to stop yelling earlier, I told her to go rinse her teeth, and I was now telling her to keep the lamp on just because I said so, even though she needed to get some sleep. With my true nature laid bare in the dim, dusky light from the lamp, I skulked off to the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, and drown my pride as much as I could.

I think that Sister is absolutely right. I need more soy.

Vacations are Blessed Things

To be truly honest, I am very glad that I did not have to work on Monday or Tuesday. My church's pastor and his wife attended the state convention and needed someone to dog and house sit. One time previously I stayed at their home with their dogs and bird, so they asked me if I could do this again. They have two sweet black labs and a little yellow bird, all of which are very easy to care for. I was glad to take care of them, so I asked for and got Monday and Tuesday off from work. Since I don't work on Wednesdays anyway, I can still watch the dogs until their mom and dad come home today.

So really, aside from still going to classes, I have had a small vacation. With this block of time opened up, I was able to attend a seminar with a friend of mine. There have been a number of seminars this semester, but my normal work schedule hasn't allowed me to attend. There have been varying topics, but last nights topic was probably by far the most interesting and culturally relevant. We discussed the historical and popular culture views on the values of love, sex, and marriage. A major strain of discussion was the historical role of "love" in choosing a partner and in the marriage relationship. According to the speaker, historically, up until about the 1600's, "What's Love Got to do With It?" could have been the theme on the view of marriage. Marriages were nothing if not economic and social contracts formed to improve a person's economic capabilities. For example, a farmer would choose or select a wife based on her strength and capabilities around the farm. He would need someone to help him with the work, not just to sit around looking pretty all day. It was also said that at some times in history, though I have forgotten the dates, marriage was looked down upon, and the relationship between a married man and woman was seen as impure or immoral. WHOA! In the words of one of my sis's (possibly) favorite characters, "SHUT UP!"

There were more topics and historical contexts discussed, definitely interesting stuff. Another really neat part about the whole experience was the conversation that I had with my friend afterwards. Now, I would say that I am a conservative by nature, upbringing and belief. My friend, Abby, defines herself as an ultraliberal. But, her religious and spiritual beliefs also inform her sociocultural beliefs. One of the men there said that he thought marriages should be in the form of a two-year renewable contract. You get married and must stay married for two years. After that time, the marriage is evaluated and you either renew the contract for another two years, or you go your seperate way. We likened it to cellphone contracts where fees are imposed for breaking the contract before it's time fulfillment. We laughed about it a little while we were there, but when we were talking afterwards, we both agreed that we believe a marriage is not a contract which can be broken, but a covenant between two people. It was a lot of fun talking with her; she's a very smart lady.

Overall, yesterday evening was very enjoyable. I am kind of hoping to be able to talk with my sis about some of these things. She's another person who is wonderful to converse with. It will be interesting to see what she thinks about these things. I am glad that I know so many intelligent, creative, and caring people. I am blessed not necessarily with many friends, but I am blessed with good friends, the best.

Wednesday Was Very Fulfilling

Well, yesterday brought both cool breezes and electoral closure. America's president for the next four years will be George W. Bush, and the temperature has dropped on us like a great humpback whale that remembered it couldn't fly. Thankfully, I have some long-sleeved shirts, a jacket or two, and a warm winter coat.

Another reason that I like Wednesdays, which I have probably already mentioned because I repeat myself a LOT, is that I do not have to work on Wednesday nights, and I get to go to church and teach the little kids' class. Last night we talked about David and Jonathon's friendship. I think that my BBB and I are like that; we have a very strong bond of friendship. And while neither of our parents are trying to kill the other, we do kind of have to watch out for each other. This may frighten any person with the slightest bit of medical knowledge or just common sense, but I have felt the twinge or her very mean kidney punch before, as has she mine. But we still love each other. *big grin*

We have always been somewhat crazy. One of our favorite sayings when talking about our friendship with each other is, "She keeps me from going sane." There is much truth in that. There's really no telling where I would be without having known her. I don't think that I would pregnant, on dope, have AIDS, or be in a women's correctional facility (never!), but I certainly would not be as blessed as I am today. I probably wouldn't have the relationship that I have with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ either. She is really one of the most awesome Christians I know. To the best of my knowledge she has never judged me or anyone else. She will speak her mind and take a stand for her believes, but she does it in the most loving and humble way. She is an approachable person and doesn't shut anyone out. I'm now almost worried that she will read this, because there's no telling what she will do to me if she does. But I think that it's worth saying how cool she is.

My sibs are awesome people to. I look up to them SO MUCH (literally and figuratively)! And there are times when being the shortest has it's advantages. My youngest sister is the only one shorter than me, but maybe I might be able to squeeze at least another inch or two out of my epiphyseal plates before I stop growing.

Well, I probably should go drink a glass of milk. May God bless and be with you and our country: we will certainly need it.

Looking Forward to Election Results and Cooler Weather

Welcome to November! There are still many trees with changing leaves, the weather is cooling down slowly, and here in the south there has been a lot of rain. My sister and I, as well as many of my friends, like sweater weather. I enjoy the weather and the sweaters.

Halloween and all of it's hubbub came and went; today almost everyone at school and work was talking about the election. We talked about it at home and church as well. I cast my ballot today in a quick 15 minutes on my way home from school. I will still be praying that I made that the right choices and that the people that are elected take our city, county, state, and country in the right direction for the future.

This year we had an amazing number of newly registered voters, especially young voters, which was probably highly influenced by all of the very public campaigns to get more people involved. I don't know how many people will read this, but I hope to hear in the weeks to come that we still need to be participating in the governmental and political processes. We still have a privilege and obligation to remain informed about local and federal goings on in our government. If there are school board elections coming up, vote in those. Try to attend a local town council meeting. Read the newspaper or find out online what is going on in your state's House and Senate. Perhaps your local library or college library has a copy of Congressional Digest, which is also a good read. Just be sure to make your voice heard, don't let your government tell you how to live your life or how your children will live their lives.

I have not been very involved besides just voting, here-to-fore. I do plan to change that and I hope that God will be glorified in the decisions that I make.