Anne of Green Gables

Another of the books I found in the box of books was Anne of Green Gables.

I LOVED the 1980s miniseries based on the books when I was little, but I've never actually picked up the book(s) and read it. So I decided to crack it open. I'm starting to really develop a love for the old classics (especially anything by Jane Austen) and since, as they say, "the book is always better than the movie," I'm sure I won't regret it...

How much you wanna bet this is going to make me want to hit up Netflix for the miniseries after? LOL. Actually, I think I'll queue it up now...

Home?

I don’t know if I can live with my sister and her best friend. I love my sister. She is probably one of my best friends, but I don’t know that I can LIVE with the two of them. They and I just are different people.

For example, I believe that it’s inappropriate to enter someone’s room without knocking when the door is closed. The person probably has a good reason for having their door closed….. like maybe being NAKED or something. *sigh*

It’s also a privacy and respect thing, right? RIGHT? Someone please tell me I’m right and not just blowing things out of proportion.

They also have this tendency of tag-teaming you and thinking that just because the both agree on something its right and you are wrong. For example, their answer to the above offense is, "it doesn't bother us." So? That makes it okay then? No. There are plenty of things that people agree on, but are still wrong to general society. This is not a majority rule thing. It’s about common sense and consideration of others.

I think what they need to do is just grow up and learn to live with other people who don’t happen to be exactly like them and do things exactly the way they do.

Living with my Dad, I learned how to live with someone who doesn’t always agree with you and isn’t always considerate. I learned to adjust my expectations and become more accommodating.

With these girls, I’m trying to be accommodating, but in the process I’m getting trampled on. I try to bite my lip and to pick and choose my battles, but when I do speak up I immediately get shut down. I don’t know if I can do this…

The other thing that is bothering me is this whole quasi-communist/socialist way that they want to do things. We each pay an equal portion of “rent.” This money is not just for rent though; it’s also for utilities, cable, phone, AND food. Sounds like a good deal right? At first I thought so too.

Now, I fee like everything up to the food I don’t have a problem contributing to. I just have a problem with having to pay for food that I may not eat (I hate dark meat chicken!) and then having to shell out extra money for extra things that I want because they have a “special diet” and don’t think they should have to buy those things. Then to add insult to injury, I have to hide that extra stuff, or it will get eaten like its part of the community pot of food…without even asking either! *sigh*

This is why communism/socialism doesn’t work: in REALITY, everyone paying “equally” is NOT in fact fair. Not only do we NOT get equal portions of anything, but we (meaning ME) don't seem to get equal say in anything.

*SIGH*

Maybe I just need to speak up and say that I would prefer to purchase my own food and be responsible for cooking my own food. At least it will make my “rent” cheaper.

Anyway…. All this kind of scares me in a way too because I think, “what if I get married and I can’t live with my husband? What if it is me who is the problem?” I don’t know. I had my complaints about my Dad, but I didn't feel like I was living under a dictator, or like I was being unreasonable about things. He did his thing and I did mine. We lived in relative harmony, so I know it's possible.

All I know is that I’m trying to consider others before myself and live in harmony and blah blah blah, but I don’t know if I can live under Fidel and Raul Castro for much longer….

"Slick" humor...

This is so sad, but so funny, but still sad, but SO FUNNY. I'm sorry.... maybe I just have a sick sense of humor, or maybe I know that my sister Katie loves the Little Mermaid and this might bother her.... Wait, Katie's just as sick as I am.... LOL

Blame it on my "Disorder"

I just read a column by Mike Adams that totally reiterates what I'm talking about in the last paragraph of my blog post Ridiculous, Ludicrous, Preposterous, Absurd....

Excerpt:

"[T]he current trend towards viewing all undesirable behavior as symptomatic of a disorder to be treated, as opposed to a wrong to be punished, is no laughing matter.

There are a number of problems associated with redefining all undesirable forms of behavior as “disorders” to be cured. Among them is the unanticipated consequence of depriving man of his humanity. If a man is merely a victim of some disease then he cannot really be considered evil. If he has no potential to be evil, he has no potential to be good.

Read more here.

Counterfeit Religion

This weekend I went to the Christening of my friends’ son at the Self Realization Fellowship in Pacific Palisades. No disrespect to my friends, but it was the strangest event I’ve EVER attended.

I have to admit, I kind of knew beforehand that this place was not exactly in-line with my beliefs, but I really didn’t expect it to be as extreme as it was. They literally prayed to over a dozen entities, in addition to “the Heavenly Father,” “Jesus Christ,” and “the Saints.” Basically they were trying to cover all their bases by being all-inclusive, even to the point of ending the prayer with not only an “amen,” but also an “om.” Yes. They were one of those “all paths lead to Heaven” kind of places.

From the moment the ceremony started, the Holy Spirit began to stir inside me. It was everything for me not to scream out how wrong the whole thing was… how false their teachings and beliefs are.

Apparently, the creator of this religion, Paramahamsa Yogananda, decided that if he took a little Jesus and sprinkled it in with his Yoga/Eastern Religious beliefs, it would appeal to a broader audience. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people out there ready and willing to eat this stuff up because it “sounds” right. The website says that he studied the four gospels and the life of Jesus, but there is no mention that he discovered that Jesus is God (not just a "spiritual teacher") and that He’s the only way to heaven. According to Yogananda, Christ’s teachings, in combination with Yoga/Eastern Religion, is the path to self-realization and being one with God.

Sorry, folks. That is so wrong. It’s Jesus or it’s Yoga/Eastern Religion. It’s not both:

"Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but through ME.'” John 14:6

He didn’t say, “I, along with yoga, meditation, etc., am the way to Heaven and enlightenment.”

(I’m wondering if Yogananda missed that part of the Gospels?)

So yeah. Needless to say, I DID NOT join in to their prayer, but had prayers of my own—prayers that my friends and all those under the control of these false beliefs would open up their eyes to the Truth.

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." 2 Peter 2:1-3

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Man, oh, man.

One thing I’ve learned from my couple of years of reading through posts and articles on Boundless is that as Christians we need to pay attention to certain characteristics when looking at a potential partner. Number one, of course, is that the person is a professing Christian. That isn’t enough though. They need to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Meaning, their life needs to reflect a relationship with Christ in the things they do and the way in which they live. (See Galatians 5:22-23)

For example, if I meet a man who says he’s a Christian, but he doesn’t attend church regularly, uses foul language, doesn’t work and isn’t diligently trying to find a job, goes out drinking, etc., it’s probably not a good idea to date him. He’s not where he needs to be in his walk with Christ. He MAY be saved, but he’s lukewarm, and what did Christ say about lukewarm Christian? He will spit them out of His mouth (or in other words, they make him sick). That type of person is still living in the world and therefore does not have the attributes consistent with the ability to be in a genuine, committed, and pure relationship. Basically, he’s a waste of my time.

So.... that brings me to my reason for writing this….

A couple of years ago I ended a friendship with a guy, Ramon, who I had been friends with for about 5 or 6 years (I briefly touched on it here). This was a toxic relationship. From the moment I met this guy I was infatuated. He had everything I thought I wanted at that stupid young age of 21, but he was wrong for me. All wrong.

We developed what I thought was a great friendship, but what I now realize was a one-sided relationship that revolved around him and benefited pretty much only him. I was his surrogate mother, his stand-in girlfriend (without all the real, non-sexual benefits), his tutor, his therapist, a space-filler until something better came along. Basically I was a big doormat.

After much abuse and neglect from my so-called best friend, I had begun to open my eyes to the terrible reality of our “friendship” and I was DONE. That’s when I cut it off, which was one of the best, most healing decisions of my life. Thank you, Lord. It also helped me to really understand what I was not willing to put up with, and it was a part of a journey that set me on my way back to God.

Now, skip forward 2 years. Who finds me on MySpace, but Ramon? Being that I’m not always a complete jerk, I accepted his Friend Request, but really didn’t have too much contact with him, other than the occasional message or comment asking how I was doing. I somehow let him talk me into giving him my number again, but almost never answered any of his calls and briefly responded to occasional texts because I see from his MySpace posts that he really hasn’t changed. He’s still full of himself, and partying and drinking everyday.

Now skip forward 1 more year. A couple months ago, I decide to shut my MySpace down (Facebook’s where it’s at, people… lol). Before I do, I see that Ramon has posted that he’s moving back to Houston. All I can think is “Thank God.” His saved brothers live in Houston and I know he looks up to them, so maybe they can influence him and lead him to Christ like they’ve done with the rest of the siblings. I tell him I’m glad he’s going because he’ll be with his brothers.

Well, last week I get a call from a private number. I answer. It’s Ramon. He begins to tell me that he’s been listening to his brothers, and that he’s tired of living life the way he is and he thinks he’s ready to become a Christian. That sounds good, but I can tell he’s not there yet. He’s still not going to church and is talking to me just like he used to. He pretty much sounds like the same old Ramon (conceited, foul-mouthed, self-centered, etc.), but with a deeper knowledge of what a Christian is. I can tell the Lord is doing a work there, but he has a LONG way to go.

Then, somehow--I don’t even remember how--the topic turns to our love lives. He tells me how he doesn’t like the girls down there and how he hasn’t been with a woman in 3 years. (TMI, dude! I really didn’t need to know that and I told him so.) Then he proceeds to ask me if I have a boyfriend. What the heck? Seriously?

So we talk further and next thing I know I’m telling him I can’t see myself living in Houston and he’s telling me that I need to go where my husband is. I agreed, but wait a minute!! How did this conversation all of a sudden become some sort of veiled way for him to hint at marriage?

!!!!!

>( <--- That's my angry face.

!!!!!

I eventually hang up with him and all I can think is WOW. Quite a few years ago, the thought of Ramon wanting to be with me, let alone marry me, would have been a dream come true. Not any more. NOT AT ALL. Especially as the person he is right now, which is not much different from the person he was when I dumped him as my friend. I also can't help but feel like he sees his brothers married to Christian women, wants to be like them, and only thinks of me 1) because I'm the only Christian girl he knows and 2) because I've always been reliable. Maybe that's not what he's thinking, but I can't help but think that is his real motivation.

I don’t know what this is about. I don’t even know if God is trying to do something with this, but it does not feel right to me at all! The thought of being stuck with him, in a life where I’m constantly feeling neglected and unfulfilled, where everything is about Ramon, is not appealing to me at all.

In my heart I know the Lord is getting ready to do a mighty work in his life the way He has done with his brothers and I know the Lord can do ANYTHING, but it’s hard for me to see myself as part of that scenario. The Lord would need to make an EXTREME change in that kid for me to even consider it. Either that, or He would have to come down from Heaven Himself and say, “Kristina, thou shalt marry this man.”

And I can’t even lie and say I wouldn’t still hesitate for a second….

So now he’s texting me and continues to ask me if I have a boyfriend (his warped way of pursuing me?), but I’m sort of ignoring it. For now, I’m not going to trust him or let my guard down. I certainly won’t leave my heart at risk of being hurt. It’s NOT happening. For the time being, I can at least use the excuse that he’s NOT a believer and he’s definitely not bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

Treasure in a box...

So, my mom left behind a giant pile of books, which my sister then proceeded to toss into a large box for her to come look through one of these days and either take with her or throw away/donate. I was cleaning up and decided to rearrange the books neatly in the box so that they weren't spilling out all over the place. In the process I came across some interesting finds: some historical books (which I definitely will be looking at); a devotional by the authors of the Left Behind series (which I have been reading every night for about a week); and a beat-up, old, hardcover book that my sisters (and possibly I) scribbled all over called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.

I brought the last one to work, pulled out my big eraser, and started trying to clean it up. Fortunately, most of the scribbles were in pencil. Most of them. (Ay ay ay! We were bad... lol)

As I was doing so, I decided to look the book up and see if there were any reviews. WOW. Were there! All positive too. Several people talk about how it's one of their favorite books of all time, how well it explains Psalm 23, and just basically how wonderful the book is.

My interest is definitely peaked.

Here is a description of the book from the back cover:

More than a quarter-century and 1.5 million copies since it was first published, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 continues to inspire and encourage with its now-classic insights into the heart of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Drawing on what he learned during his own years as a shepherd, Phillip Keller leads and prods the reader to the green pastures of discovery and the cool waters of fulfillment hidden in the "Shepherd Psalm." Pleasure and enlightenment await those willing to follow his careful leading. Page by page, Keller reveals new facets of the Shepherd of Psalm 23 and his untiring expression of Christ's love for those who trust in him as their guide, protector, source of provision, and faithful keeper. Experience Psalm 23 in a new way. See with the Shepherd's eyes, touch with his hands, and feel with his heart through this intimate look into the person of our Lord, the Great Shepherd . . . and ourselves, the "sheep of his pasture."

Can't wait to crack it open.

Flake-ademic

There is a serious problem in this country… in this world. I call it the flake-ademic.

Thank God I seem to have a natural immunity to it, but unfortunately, many around me are infected. Big time.

“Am I infected?” you ask.

Possibly. Here are some of the symptoms:

I regularly and consistently:
- Am afraid to disappoint people, so I say yes when I really mean no and have no intention of following through.
- Bail out on commitments at the last possible minute.
- Make a commitment and then when I can’t make it and the person is calling to find out where I am, I don’t answer or may even shut my phone off.
- Make multiple plans for the same day and time, forgetting that I’ve already committed to something/someone else.
- Use other people or things as excuses for why I all of a sudden can’t make it.
- Never apologize for never showing up.
- When someone asks me a question about something that I know I can’t or don’t want to do, just never answer because that’s easier than saying no.
- Make plans with people and then bail out on my own plans at the last minute.

If 2 or more of the above describe you, then you might be a FLAKE. Please get yourself checked out. At the very least, please sit down and reflect on who you are as a person. You probably don’t realize that no one trusts you and no one feels like they can rely on you. In fact, every time you bail out, they most likely roll their eyes and say, “big shocker!” Worse, if you actually have a legitimate excuse for once, no one believes it.

(Please note: If you’ve done these things once or twice in your life, than you are just human. No need to worry. Just make sure you monitor yourself just in case it progresses.)

Do you really want to live with this disease? I doubt it. So do something about it, PLEASE, for the sake of your friendships and even your children, because this seems to be a genetic disease also…

In honor of Father's Day (this is just funny!)

Funniest blog post today:

How I learned (the hard way) not to give your father the finger...

Empowered by my lofty seat, I was inspired to try new things. At that young age I itched to put the day’s lessons to use as soon as possible. That day the lesson was in sign language, delivered by an older neighbor boy. His words echoed in my round head, “Do…THIS… to your dad.”

So I did.

In a lull in conversation, as the rest of my family chewed, I looked Dad in the eye from my throne. I held out my skinny arm with an upturned fist and let fly the longest of my tiny little fingers, the King of all fingers, the Bird...

HAHAHA!!! Sounds like something stupid my sisters and I would have done too....

Kids....

Creating Narcissists.... bad idea

A long time ago, if you were part of a baseball league, you worked your butt off to be that team who won the trophy at the end. If you weren’t that team, you didn’t get a runner-up trophy; you got a handshake and a “better luck next time.” You brushed yourself off and tried harder the next year.

Nowadays, no matter if you win or lose, make a couple homeruns or never even catch a ball, you get some sort of recognition and prize. The “Fairness Police” have made sure that no one walks away empty-handed and at risk of low self-esteem. Because everyone has a RIGHT to feel like a winner, right?

No. That’s not how life works.

I know so many people who pretty much tell their kids that they are the greatest thing that ever happened to this earth. The kid could be a whiney, selfish brat. The kid could be lazy and not contribute to anything. The kid could up and quit something that Mom and Dad had to shell out a lot of money for. Nevertheless, that kid is told that he/she is absolutely amazing at everything.

Get real, people.

Now I’m not saying that you should bash your kids when they mess up or don’t do something perfectly. Of course not. Constant criticism is just as bad, but that doesn’t mean its okay to lie to your kids and tell them that everything they do is wonderful, amazing, spectacular, perfect, etc. It’s not realistic. You are only setting them up for a big slap in the face as adults because when they mess up on a job or don’t give their best, their bosses aren’t going to give them a high-five and defend them to the world. The world isn’t going to agree that they are perfect. The world is going to hold up a mirror and show them just how flawed they really are.

Plain and simple, we are turning our kids into NARCISSISTS.

Narcissism. It’s not a good thing. If you are a Christian, you know it runs against everything we are taught. It’s vanity, self-absorption, conceit, egotism, selfishness. It’s also the character trait commonly possessed by serial murders.

Does that mean that every narcissistic child is going to grow up to be a serial murderer? No.

But it does mean that they are going to grow up to be narcissistic adults. That same person that almost causes an accident and then turns around and flips YOU off like it was your fault. That same person that says they are your friend, but constantly flakes on you and acts like there is nothing wrong with that. The person who monopolizes every conversation because they think the world revolves around them. The person who takes advantage of everyone around them. The person who never takes responsibility for anything they do because nothing they do is wrong and it’s everyone else’s fault anyway. Etc., etc., etc.

That person might not be a murderer, but he/she is still someone that no one wants to have around….

I for one want my kids to grow up to be selfLESS, servants of others. Humble, patient and kind. They are only that way when we discipline them; teach them to respect God, us, others and themselves; and encourage them to never give up when they do fail and learn from their mistakes.

Something’s gotta give, or we will have more kids that grow up to be like Joran van der Sloot in this world. That’s pretty darn scary!

Growing up... Gah!

I just wanted to record for posterity that yesterday was my first time ever writing a rent check. Yikes. I'm officially a responsible adult. *shudder*

LOL. Seriously though, it feels good and it's a good time in my life...

Ridiculous, ludicrous, preposterous, absurd….

Yes. I do enjoy my thesaurus. lol. But anyway.... Man this world is a twisted place. Observe:

I just read that Perez Hilton posted up a below-the-skirt shot of Miley Cyrus. Uh, Miley is underage you jacka**. (Please excuse my language.) That is just sick. Please don’t let anyone do that to one of Perez’ underage female family members….

Why is our president still here? This man hates the country that he leads. He is surrounded by shady people who also hate this country. He has dropped the ball time and time again since day one of his presidency (oil spill anyone?). I cannot wait for this term to be over so we can get someone in there who actually has even an ounce of experience and knows what he’s doing. Like I heard someone say this morning on the radio: His only job skill is reading Teleprompters.” Yippee! *sigh*

I read yesterday that the NAACP is seriously angry with Hallmark because in a SPACE-THEMED talking card, the characters refer to a graduate conquering black holes in space. They are seriously saying that it sounds like it’s saying “black hos.” Really? REALLY? Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time someone has complained that the SCIENTIFIC term Black Hole is racist. A couple years ago a Dallas County Official also tried to say that it’s racist. SERIOUSLY? Are we really that racially sensitive? Get over yourselves, people. Next thing you know, National Council of La Raza is going to be royally pissed off that they named one of the most deadly and feared spiders a “Brown Recluse.” Ay ay ay…

The other day I set some people off when I said that Depression is a sin (I’ve also written a blog post in the past explaining why). They all jumped onto the whole Depression-is-a-Mental/Physical-Disorder bandwagon. Yes, and so, they say, is Kleptomania…. It still doesn’t mean that stealing is okay. Sorry! The moment we started making up disorders for every kind of sin, was the same moment we stopped being accountable for anything we do…

50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School

This is so good and SO TRUE:

Excerpts from Charles Sykes' book 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: (should post these in the classroom) He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, It's not your parents' fault .. , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.


HT: Mommy Life

We may need a czar to handle all these czars...

Amazing. Obama has a czar for anything and everything you can think of that could possibly be controlled by the government. This blog post from Mommy Life lists all of Obama's czars and their functions. Here's the intro:

THE CZARS..WHO ARE THEY AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
Czars are people Obama appoints who are appointed by and accountable only to Obama. They do not undergo Congressional scrutiny or approval. They are paid with your tax dollars, create their own staffs and wield enormous power.

Other presidents have appoint czars to deal with certain crises. Obama has appointed more than 30 and they all reflect his own radical vision of deconstructing the America we have known.

Pretty scary stuff... especially that there's a so-called Faith-Based Czar. What does that entail? I really can't believe anything good for people of faith...

Random thoughts on forgiveness, loneliness, and such…

Today’s devotional talked about forgiveness. It hit home because right now, over a month since Mother’s Day, I’m still not trying to have a close relationship with my sister and definitely not trying very hard to have any relationship with my brother-in-law. I feel like I do need to work more on forgiving, but I definitely don’t want to work on having them deeply in my life anymore. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. Things NEVER change with them and I’m tired of putting myself in a place where I’ll only get hurt by them. It’s that whole adage about someone hurting you once and it being their “bad” and then them hurting you again and it being your “bad.” So yeah….

******************

I regularly read Boundless webzine and lately I’ve been noticing comments on posts from females (and some males) on how lonely they are. They express all the same things I do--feeling like:
- Things will never change
- God has forgotten about me
- I’m going to be alone forever
- I’m too old to still be single
-I’m doing something wrong
- Etc.

It’s sad, because I know EXACTLY what they are going through, but then again, it’s kind of comforting. I’m glad to know that I’m truly not the only one. I’m not the only “loser” out there. LOL...

******************

I think I’m going to start cutting back on the amount of things I do for people, including and especially party planning. As much as I LOVE it and am good at it, I am tired and broke. I also can’t help but start feeling like it’s all people want me for lately, besides my amazing babysitting services. Lol. I’m on my own for the first time and I have to pay rent now, so I really need to start focusing on saving money and making more money, if possible. That’s why, from now on, anything I do agree to do party-wise is going to need to be funded by the party thrower. It really can’t be mostly coming out of my pocket anymore. Either that or I’m gonna have to start charging, which I really don’t want to do because it will take all the fun out of it for me…

*******************

There is a guy at work that likes me (I’ve mentioned him before). Every once in a while we will go to lunch together and that’s cool, but I’m not interested, as he is not a believer, nor am I even attracted to him. We went to lunch yesterday and for some reason that got me thinking: I really need to start allowing myself to consider things outside of my box. Maybe I am limiting myself.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not nearly as picky as I used to be, but there are still preferences. Of course, one preference that will NEVER go away is that he must be a Christian, on fire for the Lord. No ifs, ands, or butts.

Aside from that though, maybe there are things I could let go of. One of those things is ethnicity. Now I know when people say “I’m not a racist,” the first thing people think is “you are SO a racist.” LOL. I admit that I have certain prejudices and views of certain people, just like we ALL do (if you say you don’t you are lying to yourself and might need to do some inner soul searching—maybe ask God to reveal them to you). Those views hold me back from giving certain people a chance. I think the Lord is trying to tell me that those things don’t matter. I should be open to anyone, as long as he is a believer. If he is a true believer, he will have the characteristics (the fruit) that are important; nothing else will matter. So maybe if I just let that go, God will be able to do His work in my love life. We’ll see…. *sigh*

Seriously though…. Please don’t think I’m racist. Hahaha! Just kidding...

Not learning any class in class (or at home)...

While we're on the topic of my sister's graduation, I wanted to comment on the lack of class by people attending the ceremony.

Up until apparently recently, people saw graduations as a serious, solemn affair, which is why it involved so much ceremony (robes, speeches, etc.). You went to these things to support the graduate and to listen to the inspirational words of each speaker. Nowadays, it's all about who can yell the loudest (even if it means people can't hear what's going on) and bring the biggest bouquet of balloons (even if they block half the audience's view). =/

My sister's graduation was no exception and it included (but wasn't limited to) such grossly rude behaviour as:

• Talking during speeches, including the one by the GUEST speaker (way to welcome a guest).
• Allowing children to stand on chairs.
• Allowing children to scream.
• Mocking the speakers.
• Honking loud air horns during the speakers' speeches.
• Professors (PROFESSORS!!) encouraging graduates to start clapping so that the guest speaker would "wrap up" her speech.

Wow. WOW! What has happened to us as a society that we could act that rude, insensitive, and UNEDUCATED at such an important event? I don't care how tired or bored you were--I was too--but that doesn't give anyone the right to act so uncivilized.

What if I came to your wedding ceremony and did every single one of the things listed above? How would you feel then? You would have me thrown out. I would have you thrown out if you did that to me! So what's the difference?

What a very sad picture of what we have become. Parent and Professors, and people in general, should know better than all this...

Times really have changed for the worse.

Congrats, “Piña Colada!”

Dad, Katie, and Mom at Katie's Graduation

So last night my baby sister graduated from LA Mission College. Woohoo! First one of us to get an actual degree! Now she’s onto another few years to get her American Sign Language degree. Awesome! I’m SO proud of her.

Almost all of us were there, and even my tios, Jorge and Marta, and my cousin George and his girlfriend came. Nice. It was pretty awesome.

Katie had us cracking up when she crossed the stage and they announced her name as Kathryn “Pina Colada” Morales. Hahaha!

“Pina Colada?” you ask. There’s a story behind that….

When Katie first submitted the paperwork to be a part of the graduation we found out that she was graduating Suma Cum Laude, which means that she “achieved 90% on the general scale, or highest honors...” My Mom was of course so proud. She proceeded to call work to make sure that if she was working the day of graduation that she could switch with someone. As per usual, with my Mom, she was bragging to whoever answered that her daughter was graduating Suma Cum Laude.

That was when my dad said one of the funniest things he’s said in a while. He said, sort of under his breath, that “she should have graduated Pina Co Lada.” I immediately started busting up! This then has become the running joke and therefore is why my sister just HAD to include it as her nickname when crossing the stage. Too good.

I’m so proud of you, Katie. You really worked hard for this and I know you will continue to work hard. I’m sure you have inspired some of us to go ahead and finish our schooling too. =)

Air high-five….

Another party success.... Julia's 10th Birthday

So we had my goddaughter Julia's Mad Hatter Tea Party 10th birthday party yesterday.

Finally! It's finished! Thank God. (I don't know why I always agree to these things... so much work!) It was a little bumpy at first, but it was a success. We had about 10 kids show up, which was definitely enough to play games and for Julia to enjoy herself.

I got tho the park about 2 hours before the party was to start to find Julia and one of her friends hanging out, guarding our area. I was a little miffed that I was left with two kids as my helpers because there was A LOT of work to do, but I managed. We had a few more bumps with food orders being messed up and as a result Mandy (the birthday girl's mom) showing up kind of late. Thankfully, I had made treats, including PB&J sandwiches, for the kids, so that held them over. We even ended up doing cake/cupcakes before food, but because our theme was Mad Hatter, it worked out that everything was backwards. lol

Overall, despite the little stressors, it all turned out great. The kids had a blast.... Julia had a great time and got some amazing gifts and a lot of money. I guess all the little headaches don't matter afterall.... I know the kids didn't notice. =)

I can't believe my Baby is 10 years old already! So crazy!

This was the Pin the Smile on the Cheshire Cat game I made. Yes... I free-handed and then colored this myself. =)

Baby with the Card Soldiers and Not-quite-fully-painted rose bush. =)

Another shot with the flamingos.


The Mad Hatter's Table

Another angle of the Mad Hatter's Table

Close up shot. Check out my centerpieces. Yes... I made those myself too. =)

"The Queen of Hearts" and the "Catapillar" entertained the kids with card tricks. They loved it.

"The Red Queen" oversees the singing of Happy Birthday to Julia.

Yum!

On top of cake, they got to decorate their own cupcakes. =) Talk about sugar overload.

LOST treasure...

Oh man! I wish I would have known about LOST's Jorge Garcia's blog, Dispatches from the Island. I would have been following from Day 1. Now it's all over. Oh well. I'm SO gonna go back and read every entry regardless.

P.S. Poor guy just lost his dog, Nunu. What a terrible way to end his time in Hawaii.... Sad day. Read more about that here.

I need a vacation from coming back from vacation...

So I've completely moved back to the Valley and today I went back to work. Blah!

As I predicted, I came back to a giant mess. My desk was chaos... it literally took me about 6 hours to sort through everything. To make things even worse though, someone decided it would be a good idea to rearrange my desk.

Thank you. I totally needed to come back and find MY stuff moved around, as if you were trying to send me a message that my arrangement just wasn't working for you. Well, excuse me. I thought it was MY desk.

That's like asking someone to housesit for you and then coming home to find out that they really didn't like how you had your furniture set up, so they decided to "redecorate." Who asked you to do that? All I asked was that you watch my house, feed the dog, and water the plants. Geez!! Have some respect!

I can't imagine covering someone else's workspace and feeling that I have the right to go ahead and move their stuff around and not put things back where I found them. It's called common courtesy.... *sigh*

Needless to say, I will be doing everything I can in the future not to be out for extended periods of time. Or at the very least, only have CERTAIN people--people I can trust--cover from now on....