Tagged

2 Tags for the Price of 1
8 Things I am passionate about:
1. My son
2. My job
3. Reading
4. Exercise
5. Music
6. Travelling
7. Creating
8. Doing things that I’ve never done before

8 Words or phrases that I say often:
1. Cuuuute
2. Whatever
3. Not too long King Kong
4. I love you this much
5. Let’s race
6. Ok
7. Thanks
8. Huh?

8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Raise my son
2. Get the ugly wallpaper off the walls in my house
3. Live on the East Coast
4. Publish a book
5. Hang glide
6. Find inner peace
7. See a cure found for PC
8. Get my doctorate

8 Things I have learned
1. How to manipulate Access to create very pretty columnar output
2. Letting your kid believe in Santa makes Christmas magical
3. Some beliefs have to come at the expense of a comprehensive analytical understanding
4. Everyone wants validation, especially for their pains
5. Friends are the family you choose for yourself
6. Even if it is in style again, the 80’s look is not that attractive
7. Cleaning toilets suck
8. Sometimes you have to fake it till you make it

8 Places I would love to go or see:
1. Chicago
2. MIT
3. Hawaii
4. Alaska
5. Scotland
6. England
7. Italy
8. Spain

8 Things I currently need or want:
1. An irrefutable belief in things hoped for but not seen
2. To hold my baby tight
3. To walk on the beach
4. To live in New York
5. To finish reading the book I’m currently reading
6. To become an expert in the application PeopleSoft
7. To begin working on my masters
8. To get the ugly wallpaper off my walls

8 People I tag:
1. April
2. Ashley
3. Kim
4. Ang
5. Whit
6. Tiffany
7. Allie
8. Jolyn

alphabet tag...
A. Attached or single? Single
B. Best friend? I have a lot of those.. depends on the situation
C. Cake or pie? Ice cream (does that count cause seriously... cake or pie?!?!?)
D. Day of choice? Friday
E. Essential item? Jacket/sweater
F. Favorite color? green
G. Gummy bears or worms? worms
H. Hometown? Lakeside, AZ
I. Indulgence? reading
J. January or July? January… for starting overs
K. Kids? 1
L. Life isn’t complete without? Zach
M. Marriage date? August 11, 2000 (divorce date, September 22, 2006)
N. Number of brothers & sisters? 4 brothers, 4 sisters
O. Oranges or apples? oranges
P. Phobias? Testifying in court
Q. Quotes? Que te via bien, Cuuuuute
R. Reasons to smile? Rain, my son, my friends/family
S. Season of choice? Fall
T. Tag some peeps! see above
U. Unknown fact about me? If I’m working on any project whether for work or fun or at home, I’ll dream about it at night until I figure it out and I can often come up with at least new ideas of how to approach a problem from my dreams
V. Vegetable? Bell peppers
W. Worst habits? Biting my lips
X. X-ray or ultrasound? I’ve never had an x-ray so it is on my list of things that would be fun to do someday. I wanna see what my bones look like
Y. Your favorite food? Ice cream
Z. Zodiac sign? Cancer

Today

Today I'm grateful for my job. My two bosses are really great and an enjoyment to work with. I started a project with the director of my office last week and finally got back to it on Thursday. I had to ask for some guidance at a few points in it working with data that I'm still not 100% familiar with but then was able to dump my data into Microsoft Access and manipulate into the desired output. I got an email last night shortly before leaving work from the requisitioning department asking that I add an additional field and it took me two extra hours to do it. I had to do an analysis of student tuition rates and write an equation that would look at that rate and determine whether or not the student was a part time or full time student and incorporate that data into my previously gathered data. Well about 5 equations, two queries and one report later (plus a bunch of failed attempts and a lot of messing around) I got it! It was all quite exciting!!

Today I ate a Paradise Bakery for the first time since leaving Tucson. I got free lunch because when I left Tucson, my job threw me a going away party and it was catered by Paradise Bakery and they were an hour late so we all got a free lunch. So I got to use that today and still got my yummy yummy Paradise Bakery cookie!! YUM!

Today I wore my first ever ASU shirt. I've been committed to this job but now I'm really committing. I have an ASU shirt (and I spent like three dollars on it!) It's so cute though it's a white polo shirt with a flower on it and the words ASU.

Today one of my co-workers brought bagels this morning. I got in the break room a little late but I was really hungry so I decided to go see what was left. I consigned myself to taking a raisen cinnamon bagel and when I bit into it, I discovered quite unexpectedly that it was chocolate chip! YUM!! Love chocolate!

Today when I went to lunch with my friend from work, we went to the Tempe Market place and parked way out at the end of the parking lot so we could get in a good walk and because there were no good parking spaces anyway. Well the car that had pulled in right before us had the cutest guy. Now talk about YUM!!

Today Is a Gift... That’s Why It’s Called the Present

If I knew that day on which I would die, I think my life would be spent preparing for that… making sure my son’s future would be taken care of, planning for the future, getting it all figured out.

But since I don’t know and lets face it… it could be tonight in my sleep or tomorrow or well whenever.

Something I need to remember a little more frequently.

So I need to figure out some new fun adventures to go on.

I have some frequently flyer miles that I need to use. I was thinking about jetting out to Alaska. New York would usually be my first choice but I will be in DC next March... which is not NY but kinda close so maybe I should try somewhere I haven't been yet.

I'm going back to Tucson later this month for my first visit back since I left and I can't wait to see my friends.

I'm going to find a weekend and take my son to the Phx Zoo.

I need to start some kind of classes again because when I'm not picking up new things I start to go a little nutty. I need my mind to over analyze school stuff instead of other stuff.

I'm going to do a 5K in December. Which isn't that big of a deal since it's only three miles but it's good for me to get out there and do something period.

This weekend I'm hoping to get my tile put down. I've always wanted to learn how to do it so there's no time like the present!

I think I've decided what I want to hang on one of my walls but don't have the foggiest as to where to find it so maybe I'll take a shot at creating it myself.

I gotta find more to do to keep life interesting and make sure I'm keeping my mind and body active.

And really wanna make sure that I keep peace with myself so that I can stay at peace with others too. I learned from a close friend in Tucson that our moral code is something we develop for ourselves and I know I have to live to my moral code. There are positive things all over in life to which I can turn to use as guideposts but the ultimate truths and reality in my world are shaped by my experiences and past. Which means that my life will always be uniquely mine. But even if no one ever fully understands me or sees my points or takes my side, it doesn't matter because I know that there are people in my life who do love me no matter what.

Life really is a gift and I'm grateful to be alive.

Edgefest 2008

Ok top ten observations from edgefest:

1. Inebriation does not make you a better dancer


2. Dancing inebriated does make you good entertainment


3. It also sometimes causes you to make new bff's, who you then forget about three minutes later


4. The songs that are played on the radio are usually not a very good indication of the actual genre/style of music for any given band


5. Lots of bands have really old musicians


6. Lots of bands have really old fans


7. Drunk dancing grannies are really entertaining too... until you picture your own grandma there dancing like that


8. Irish punk rocks


9. If you walk into a tent with a box of stuff and say it's free, a mob will form (and you don't wanna be the guy holding the box) AND FINALLY....


10. Don't wear flip-flops in a mosh pits!

My favorite bands were Everlast, Authority Zero, Pennywise and Flogging Molly (Irish punk!)

It was lots of fun and just the beginning of my concert-going!

What new adventure next? Hmmm.............

Conversations and thoughts

I met with my bishop tonight and we were having an honest open discussion about some things in my life. I have trust issues because of my past and while I feel that my ability to love others has not been incapacitated, I will admit that at times, probably much too often, I allow these trust issues to inhibit my ability to be loved.

And what a tragic state that is. I can at times see my life as if I am an outsider looking in. I see the tragedy of what I do, I recognize the harm in what I'm doing and yet I don't seem to have the ability to stop it. Or more accurately, I haven't honed and perfected my ability to stop it. I push people away that I desperately hope will come closer into my life. I know that it's a form of self preservation as I fight to avoid the pain associated with rejection or even others' imperfections.

But I know that I'm give up a lot because I have not gotten over these hold ups. I know love is risky and loving can hurt. But I have to believe, deep down, somewhere... that the dividends are worth the investment.

But anyway, back to the conversation with the bishop.... He talked about unrighteous dominion and righteous dominion. We often hear about the unrighteous version and we all know how bad it is. But he said in essence that when we choose to get married (or enter a relationship), by making that choice, we give that person dominion over us. Sometimes we attempt, even in marriage to withhold the gift of dominion... but that's when we get ourselves in trouble. So I think that righteous dominion is exercising the dominion that is gifted to us with respect.

Giving someone else dominion is allowing them to influence our decisions; it is not requiring/requesting/forcing/allowing them to make the decsision for us but to provide room in which opinions may be expressed and honesty may exist. So it seems to all come down to two points in the end. First, I gotta be willing to be hurt a little if I ever do want to tear down my wall and feel something more than lukewarm interest in someone else. Second, the respect is ultimately the key to everything. Respect for yourself and for others, for different ideas and priorities, for past experiences and future dreams.

I don't know what this means for me. I know it doesn't mean that I'll get it all figured out in the next day or week or month. But it's at least food for thought. I have a lot of things still to "fix" in my life before I consider the different parts of myself to no longer be "broken," my heart being one of them. But if anyone's passing out A's for effort, I think I at least diserve that. I know what direction I want to go... I just wish someone would've told me there's a mountain directly in my path... not that it would've really changed my course. Life is good.

Venting

So this week had some particulary stressful moments with which I admit I not always very adept at dealing. So in order to vent I finally did what works best for me. I made something. I started last night but I didn't want to be rude and had to quit using the power tools around 9:30. pm. I started up again this morning after running a few errands and after about 4 or 5 hours, I have a new storage bench for my kitchen. I'm going to make two more to kinda wrap around the kitchen table and then it will officially be my "kitchen nook." Nothing replaces that sense of satisfaction when you complete something and realize that it even looks nice!














My camera's color is messed up right now so there's one in sepia and on in black and white. It'll look better when it's painted but not that you could tell anyway as long as my camera isn't working right :P

Football

My cousin (who is one of my son's heros!) played in his high school football game this weekend. It was Gilbert High (go Tigers!) vs. Westwood. Here's some random pics. He's number 75.

Brings back good ole memories of high school football in Lakeside!