I'm done being politically correct

I love Christmas. It is truly my favorite time of the year. I'm one of those hard core Christmas people who, the day after Thanksgiving, go shopping, decorate the house, pull out the music and don the pins and earrings. I always send out Christmas cards, try to watch as many Christmas specials on TV that I can, and NEVER use the abbreviation "X-mas". Christmas to me is not just about family, friends, and presents. It a day that represents Love. God's love for us. It's the day where I celebrate the birth of my Savior. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

However, this year I find my favorite time of the year under attack. I feel as though the politically correct are taking Christ out of Christmas and turning this time into a day of Christian persecution. How sad has our world become when children don't sing Silent Night at school concerts, when retail workers can't wish you "Merry Christmas", and when cities advertise the lighting of the "holiday tree". Come on now!!!!

Now, don't get me wrong. I truly appreciate all peoples and all cultures. Bring on the Menorah. Bring on the tenants of Kwanza. Bring on the dancing Lion. But let me have my Christmas. Let me pull out the Nativity scene, let me wear my pin with the lion and the lamb, allow me to wish my students Merry Christmas!

For the past three years, I have been in charge of the special events calendar at school. I design it with a simple publishing program and distribute it to all of the classrooms. I also, a few years ago, started a "Holiday Cultural Awareness Week" in order for all of the different holidays that are celebrated in this time to be discussed. Last year, however, I was told that even though we are having this week, we will not be able to use a scene of the wise men following the star on the calendar to signify that week. I fought back saying that the menorah is on the calendar and you don't have a problem with that. I was then told that no one would take offense to the menorah, but I might offend someone with the wisemen scene. I got angry, and ended up taking both the menorah and the wise men off the calendar and substituting them with a dreidle and a candy cane. Neither one, in my opinion truly iconisizes the true celebrations they were to represent. This year I ended up just using the Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas phrases to appease the masses.

It really angered me last year. So this year I decided that in protest, all of my Christmas cards will have a religious tone to them, I will play my Christmas music, especially the traditional Christmas hymns, in my office as loud as allowed, and I will wish EVERYONE a very Merry Christmas. And those who find me offensive can kiss my butt.....I'll just make sure that they do it under the mistletoe.

Happy Holidays, Ya'll

Well, it's the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it already feels like Christmas is just around the corner. Yesterday my Mom and Sister and I were one of the crazies and headed out to shop at 5am. We hit Mervyns, Target, Michaels, Kohls, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. And I am pleased to say that I stayed within my budget. Even though things are tighter than we expected, I'm bound and determined not to let that get me down right now. After our shopping extravaganza, I went back to my Mom's to crash for the afternoon. Had to rest up for the concert at the Block in Orange. Our church headed out to the Block to kick off the holiday season with some Christmas songs. This is my third year participating in the concert. It's always such a fun time. Our church passes out free CDs and we sing. It's lots of fun, and this year was no exception.

So, as far as things are going with the job hunt, here's where we are....Rich continues to work at the temp job and continues to interview. No offers have come his way yet, however, I am confident that this week we will have a better idea of where we are going to land. And Rich's car should be done being fixed TODAY!!! We were so blessed to have Carl and Emily's car, but I'll feel so much better knowing that our cars belong to us. My one request is that you continue to pray for Rich and I as we seek God's wisdom in all of this.

I pray that all is well with you and yours. Have a great week!
ENJOY!!!!

Bet you thought I was dead....huh?!?!?

Sorry, I'm just not as good as some of the rest of you about keeping this thing posted. Not to mention that my school changed its web filter and I can't post while at work (Bastards!!!). But hey, I'm alive and doing ok....for the time being.

Let's catch you all up to date.....No, I did not get the job. After two weeks of Maria hemming and hawing she gave it to a new secretary we hired this September. She had a whole lot of office manager experience and was very quick to pick things up. She's become a great new member of the crazy admin team and fits in quite well. So I am still at my Job Coach/Voc. Ed. Director position, which I'm fine with. Rich, on the other hand, has been dealt a couple of blows recently. First off, on Tuesday of last week he was let go from his new job. He hadn't hit the end of the probationary period and the company decided that it just wasn't working out. I tell ya, Rich and I were in quite the tail spin on Tuesday, but by Wednesday morning, Rich had already set up with a temp agency and they were sending him out on a job by 1:00 Wednesday afternoon. Not making as much as he was at his other job, but at least bringing in something. This week he interviewed with one company today, has an interview tomorrow, and continues to field calls about people sending them his resume. We are certain that God will take care of us and that this is just a small set back in our lives. However, on Friday, things got a little bleaker. As Rich was driving home from work, his car died. We had it towed to Goodyear, but on Saturday was told that it needed a whole new engine. WHAT A BLOW! But God provides, the car is now at Rich's family's mechanic who is giving us a great deal on a new engine and in the mean time, one of the members of our church has loan us a car for as long as we need it. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanksgiving will be with the whole family this year, Rich's mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and brood are coming over to my mom's to celebrate the great day of Turkey. It'll be the first time our families have been together since we returned from our honeymoon. I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward to it! Because of the whole FlyLady thing that I had share with you all, I had already bought all of the stuff for the casseroles I was planning on taking, so I'm still set to bring two different green bean casseroles (the traditional kind AND a kicked up version with cheese, jalepenos, & bacon) and a yam & butternut squash mash (yummy).

So that's what's going on in my neck of the woods these days. I pray that your Thanksgiving is a blessing for you this week. I know I have many, many things to be thankful for. Have a good one.

A new position in the horizon

As some of you know, last year my job was no picnic. We had crazy staffing issues, we were sold to a different company, and we had a new HR/Office Manager who seemed to mess everything up. Life at Rossier was not all happiness and roses. In fact, it SUCKED!!!! This year has been better, but the attitude of the staff still seems to be really negative. And a lot of it comes from some of the HR/Office manager issues we've had. We have three copiers on campus, on most days, you're lucky if you can find ONE of them working. We started the year without any internet access. And this new company can't seem to get their act together when it comes to insurance and 401k benefits. BUT, one good thing does seem to be headed our way. The HR/Office Manager has quit. His last day is on Friday. And I have decided that I'm going to apply for the position.

It's so strange......Last year, when the position was up, I had thought about applying at that time, however, at that point, I still didn't feel like I had my director's respect and we really hadn't formed a relationship. But over the course of the year, she and I began to share a mutual respect for each other. My overall relationship with her grew in leaps and bounds last year, and I now feel like I will be able to work with her both professionally and personally. And as far as the other staff go, I have been told numerous times that they had wished that I had initially applied for the position.

I'm hoping to be interviewed tomorrow, Monday, but if I don't, the interview will be put off until Friday since I'll be at a conference in Arrowhead Tuesday - Thursday. I'll be sure to keep you all updated!!!

Have a great week!
ENJOY!!!

It's Saturday night and I'm at home

With the holidays just around the corner (only 77 shopping days left), I find myself at home on a Saturday night. Very strange for me :-) But I'm happy to just be here and know that the only thing left on the list of things to do this weekend is to watch Million Dollar Baby. I missed it last year, and rented it last night. I've been told that it's amazing.....we'll see.

I was also home last night as well. Rich got together with a couple of his buddies for cards and I stayed home. I rented and watched "Born into Brothels", last year's Oscar winner for Best Documentary. Great film, very uplifting. And the extras were great!!! Check out the link and when you get a chance, rent it. Very moving.

I'm going to be better this year about getting to the theater to see all of the award winning films this season. For years, it has been my families tradition to try to see all of the Academy Nominated Best Picture nominated films. Most years I'm really good. But last year, I was horrible. I think I honestly only saw one of the nominated Best Picture films. This year will be better.

It's been quite the experience seeing all the movies that I have because of the Academy. I can honestly say that I have not enjoyed all of them, however, I understand why all of them have been nominated. A few movies that come to mind that I saw because of the Academy (that I enjoyed, but would have not seen otherwise) have been "In the Bedroom," "A Simple Plan,"Gangs of New York," and "Frida". I could list more, but I think you get the idea. I enjoy movies A LOT. And I'll be sure to let anyone who still reads this blog know what I've seen and if it's any good. In fact, my sister and I are going to try to see "In Her Shoes" some time this week.

So I think that's it. I hope everyone has a great week and finds some time to appreciate all of the blessings God placed in your life.

Enjoy!

GO ANGELS!!!!!!!

Trying to catch up

Ok....so I've been away for a while. It's so funny.....I got back to work and suddenly I don't have time to blog anymore. And it doesn't help that our internet is down at work, so I can't blog there either. Not that I would or anything......my boss doesn't know about this site....do you Maria? But it's funny....I don't use my computer at work for a whole lot of personal use, but I will occasionaly check email or bank statements. But now that I can't do those things, I find that I have to do all of my computer stuff at home, and I just don't want to!!!!! I love being on the computer and I love bloging, but forcing myself to do it at home SUCKS!!! Is that weird of me????

So what have I been up to? Really, when I think about it, not a whole heck of a lot. Mostly it's just work, home, watch too much tv, and get ready for the next day. My house is looking a lot better these days. I have taken up my "FlyLady" routines again. For those of you going "What the hell is Fly Lady"? In a nutshell, it's this lady who has put together ways to keep up with life without it falling apart around you. Check out the website. If my routines are in order (which they have been in the last few weeks) I feel much more settled and relaxed. And my house looks so much better than it did all summer!!! It's a great tool if you really absorb her "babystep" approach. I love it.

I'm all caught up on my reality tv fix. I was very sad that Marty did not win on Rock Star INXS, but I do think the band made the best decision for them. I'm excited to see how the final 5 end up doing once they're back out on their own. I go caught up into So You ThinkYou Can Dance and we were down to the final six tonight. I really thought that Melody and her partner (I can't think of his name right now) really stole the show. I'm interested to watch next week to see the outcome. Survivor: Guatamala was FANTASIC last week!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! That was rough! And I even caught the second half of America's Next Top Model tonight. I'm glad to see that Tyra got a couple new judges.

As for the real TV: Monday was the season premire of Arrested Developement. SO FUNNY!!! That show is BRILLIANT! I just pray that enough people watch it this season. House has started off fantasticly; last week's episode w/ LL Cool J was incredible. The first scene really freaked me out! I checked out "How I met Your Mother" on CBS (COME ON.....Alyson Hannigan AND Neil Patrick Harris...I had to) It was cute, I'll probably give it couple more looks before making a true decision. I haven't watched Lost yet. Rich went to a hockey game tonight so I told him I wouldn't watch it witout him.....but it's KILLING ME!!!!

So I think that's it. I hope all is well with you! Thanks for checking in!
ENJOY!!!

Where society is headed....

I don't quite know where to start when it comes to Katrina and her wrath. Being on vacation this week, I have been surrounded by the pictures of the damage and destruction. I feel extremely sad, not only for the people directly hit, but for the US as a whole. I see all of the houses underwater, or the lack of houses in the gulf bay, and I well up with compassion. I shake my head in wonderment as to where all these people are going to go. This is a battle beyond anything we have every dealt with here in the US.

Yet I find myself frustrated and angered as well. The violence, looting, raping and such is completely unacceptable. What makes a society, at it's lowest point, rape, shoot at rescuers, loot homes and retail businesses? I simply don't understand it. When the sunami hit last year, there was no reports of the civil unrest we are experiencing here. What part of the US culture makes people think that these acts are OK? Is it our belief that we are "entitled"? The belief that can have what we want, whatever the means? I just don't understand....and unfortunately, I think these beliefs are growing.

If you talk with the average teenager these days, they all believe that the world owes them. They can wear the shoes, watch the movies, listen to the music, eat the food they want, and all of this regardless of the consequences of their actions. How can we stop this attitude? The acts of servanthood, selflessness, and charity seem to be foreign to us. I hope that the majority of people are willing to give and serve in this desperate time of need, but what can we do about those who don't or won't during these times? It is my fear that we are heading closer and closer to a closed society, looking out only for Number 1 and never looking back. Am I wrong?

My prayers, money, and any other help I can give goes out to these people stricken by this terrible disaster.....but even more, my heart goes out to the next generation in hope that they begin to see beyond their small worlds.