Y2K 10 year anniversary

I must admit, it didn't occur to me until this afternoon that this Friday marks 10 years since the big Y2K panic. Reflecting back, it has been an exhausting 10 years. My life is in such a different place from where I thought I'd be 10 years later on.

I recall the absolutely unfounded panic. The mission of my old unit. The grueling night shifts at DuPont. The exasperatingly long hours of home schooling! I was really busy back then. I thought I'd never be able to continue on at that pace, then proceeded to throw my hat in the ring for even more arduous tasks as the years cranked on.

Now, here I sit looking at the last five days of this year, this decade and I can't believe it's all gone! All of the goals I had hoped to achieve. The relationships that have come and gone. The friends new and old that have been made and kept, and some that have been left to go. The loved ones I have lost.

Well, even without the impending doom of the end of the world (at least not for another few years according to the Mayans anyway) I am a little fore lorn looking at
the passing of another year. This has been a bittersweet year. I reconciled with my sister, only to lose her. Learned to open my heart again, only to have it crushed, Watched my baby pass from HS to college, only to have him lose his mind (as is wont to happen to young people of his age!)

And so, off to Vegas I go to ring in the new year. I hope if nothing else, I am able to just let go of all the sadness and pain and move on into the new year with a fresh perspective. And who knows, maybe I'll come back a big winner. Lord knows I deserve a little something good to come my way. I mean, really, Mr. Man Upstairs, I've certainly surpassed all expectations! I've taken more than my share. I'm ready to move up and move on...come on next stage!

some much needed R & R

So I'm off of school for a few weeks and as of Wed will be off of work for a week and a half and next week my super awesome uncle is flying me to Vegas for New Years Eve. I am so looking forward to this. I feel like I have lost so much this year, I think I really really deserve some fun time.

Let's review:



I lost the job that told me who I was. I am in the process of losing my house. I lost my sister to Cancer, (but at least was able to reconcile with here first) but in the process, lost my family to petty BS. My 18 year old has decided he doesn't want to play by the rules anymore so I am losing him.

It's been a sucky ass year for me!

But here are the things I am thankful for (with caveats):

I got my sister back, if only for a brief moment in time (see above)
I got my bestest cousin back after 30 years (and I'm so glad to find out she's just as crazy/wonderful as me!)
I have my health (although this kick class is making me feel my age some days!)
I learned how to fall in love again (even if it was fleeting)
I have a wonderfully loving BFF who supports the hell out of me, even when I'm an asshole (even though she's a really bad influence on me and plies me with wine right before kick class!)
My BFFs children love the hell out of me, even when I tell them I have nothing for them for Xmas (and then I took them to see a movie instead, with pop and popcorn!)
I have wonderful friends who are more precious to me than any family member ever tried to be. (and I'm so glad they are all crazy/wonderful like me!)
I have two wonderfully fantastic friends who were friends of my mom's who have done more for me than they will ever know. (I feel like they have helped me get to know the woman that she was since I lost her before we got that far)
My crappy job has some fantastic perks (Pistons Suits, after hours events with drinking, hob-knobbing with impotant peeps)
The crazy Canadian Governor with the really big facial mole is paying for me to get an education so I can finally get the recognition for the skill levels I have. (even though I will never be able to find a good paying job once I get said degree!)
I was paid by DuPont long enough to have the money to buy a new car when my van finally crapped out on me. (I miss the van, but I love my little clown car!)
And last but definitely not least, I am loved by God. (though why I sometimes can't understand!)

So for now I'll cry in my wine and maybe spend a few days in bed, and then when I'm over that, I'll pack my bags and go to Vegas, where maybe I'll find a husband! Stranger things have happened!

Peace be to you during this crazy, frantic, mixed up time of the year that is supposed to be about the Savior and NOT about the savings!

Bah Humbug!

Here's what I don't get...if it really is the thought that counts, and not the actual gift...what the heck is everyone doing driving themselves into debt to buy all this crap for their kids, their families and their friends? How did we go from celebrating the birth of our savior to this commercialized orgy of materialism?

I've decided to cancel Xmas this year.


Other than celebrating the prayerful praises of a God that loved me enough to make the greatest sacrifice so that I may live eternally in a relationship with Him, I will not be participating in any of the other stuff...I will have to fake it thru a few parties that I have been obligated to attend, but it will be fake. I will not even attempt to muster up even the least bit of a holiday spirit.

I am not baking, doing cards, buying gifts of any kind, cooking and/or eating if I can get away with it. I've got some time off between school semesters and some time off my Oh, so wonderful new job and I'm going to get some things in order and start the new year fresh. So if in the meantime I seem to step on your elfish spirit, well, excuse me! I've had a rough G-D year and I think I get to be an ass for a while.

Please come check back after the most wonderful time of the year and meet the new me. I'm hoping to find her somewhere out in Vegas during the holiday break.

Peace!

Time to see a man about a house

No, it's not a typo...today is the day I go see the lawyers about trying to save my house from foreclosure. On the one hand, if I let the house go, I'll be able to stretch my minuscule income further and possibly sock a little away for the future. I'd be able to get a better car. I wouldn't have to worry about all the maintenance and upkeep of this place.

On the other hand, If I let it go, I let go all the privileges that come with home ownership...privileges like privacy, and sense of Independence.

I'm not asking for much. I don't want to be given any extra special dispensations. I just want to be able to come home at the end of my very long days and relax. I'd like to be able to walk into the kitchen and fix something to eat. I'd like to be able to draw a hot bath and soak in it, even to fall asleep in it! lol

So, here's my prayer:

God, whatever happens today, please guide me in seeing that you have a plan for me and comfort me in my time of need. Your will be done, easier spoken than accepted. Whatever your plan, help me to adjust to whatever may come. Give me the strength to do the things I must do. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Amen!

Peer Proofing Our Essays on Banning Offensive Language In Public Spaces

So, last Wednesday, my English Comp class was divided into groups of 4 students each and we were tasked with reading one another's essays and "proofing" them. We were asked to evaluate the essays based on 7 criteria the instructor posted on the board for us to review. Not too difficult, I should think. Then I read the first one.

All I can say is...Oy to the Vay! (insert face palm here) I was once again reminded in painful detail just how inadequately secondary educators are preparing students for successful college careers. The first essay was technically correct in appearance. It consisted of 5 paragraphs, the first of which was an intro, followed by 3 evidential, or supporting, paragraphs, followed by a concluding paragraph. Each paragraph consisted of the minimum standard 3 sentences. For all intents and purposes, the paper had the look of an essay.

Then there's the content. To begin with, the student never took a position. It is her belief that since there is no real way to prevent people from saying offensive things, we should all "just get over it." That's all I'm going to say about that essay.

The next poor child was under the impression that "free speech" is someone standing at a podium and speaking, for which the listener is not required to pay a fee to hear! AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!! Once I got my blood pressure back to a livable level, I wrote a few quick notes and passed her paper back. I couldn't really begin to give her advice on how to fix the technical aspects of her paper when she obviously slept thru the past 10 years of her education!

The last young lady in my group wrote an eloquent thesis on the importance of protecting the rights of all, including bigots and nut-jobs (or are those titles inter-changeable? lol) rights to express themselves. She went on to discuss how although freedom of speech gives one the right to express one's ideas, it does not mean one should haphazardly exercise that right. She discussed the moral obligation each one of us has in censoring our own selves and impressed upon the importance of considering how our expressions may effect others.

I was thoroughly impressed that she was able to articulate her thoughts and backed them with a few references, although she failed to site them in her rough draft. I was able to leave a few notes for her on places where the technical aspects of her essay needed to be tended to, as well as leaving a few devil's advocate gems for her to think about when doing the final draft.

Then I received my own paper back from the team. Other than two spots where they noticed (as I had already discussed with the BFF) that the content wandered a bit off topic, they didn't have anything critical to say. They jotted down a few encouraging comments about how much they liked my essay and that was it. Well, except for one comment. I nearly fell over with laughter when I realized what she was trying to say. She was commenting on a line in my essay where I describe how campus restrictions on language would make for a "kinder, gentler learning environment" and my "peer" wrote down a suggested alternative as "could be 'more gentle learning environment'" - okay, I had to remind myself that anyone under 35 years of age would not be apt to get the George H. W. Bush reference there. So, there's that! lol

I will post up my essay as soon as I get the graded on back from the instructor and have had an opportunity to correct any major failures.

Thanks for listening!

Busy as Sheet cake!

This is just a post to say that I have at least 5 posts stored up in my head and no time to lay them out...I need a secretary!

The First Amendment

Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

So, I am in the car with my BFF (best friend forever) and we are on our way to her middle son's first football game of the season. As we turn the corner to get into the parking lot, we realize there is some kind of protest going on. The protesters are brandishing yellow ribbons, parade-sized versions of Old Glory, and signs bemoaning our president and the new health care plan. They even have a sound system amplifying patriot melodies. Whatever group this is, they have a statement, and they want to be heard.


So, bff huffs and gets disgruntled about them being in her way. Understand that she is 110% a football mom (and that topic is for another post) and these people are in the way of her getting to THE GAME! Her 7 y/o daughter asks what those people are doing. Again, bff huffs, and makes some snarky comment about them being stupid and wanting to spread their stupidness or something to that effect. At this, I had to interject and explain to her daughter that those people were exersizing their first amendment rights. To which bff replies, "Listen, my children are entitled to my opinion, and my opinion only."

Now, under any other circumstances, I would have jumped at the opportunity to jump on my soap box and let her have it with both barrels. Instead I laughed it off, because I know her well enough to know that even though she encourages her children to share her political views, I also know that she is the kind of person that would never prevent her children from developing their own political views. But she isn't alone in her agitation of people exersizing their rights to peacable assembly and free speech.

The current topic of discussion in my English Comp class is "Do you think there is some language that is so patently offensive that it should be banned from public discourse despite our Fisrt Amendment guarantee of free speech?" We read an article today about how Mob Rule has taken over liberal college campuses across the nation, allowing certain political groups to harass and even cause to cancel certain invited speakers if the group doesn't agree with the point of view of the speaker.

What will happen to us as a people when only the politically correct views are allowed to be expressed? Or when only those ideals that are popularly held are allowed to be expressed? Don't forget, slavery and nazism were popular views during their respective times in history. This is not a good direction to be going in. The irony is, that the campuses were this is running rampant have always been known as liberal institutions, once the basteons of open discource on controversial ideas and topics.

This topic hits right to the core of who I am and what I have always tried to stand for. I'm not going to get into it all right now. I have to save some for class. Our first writing assignment is going to be based on this topic. I'll post the finished product here. Come back in a few weeks and check it out.

Thanks for listening...