things about the holidays I do not care for

20. stress
19. left-overs that never leave
18. poor road conditions
17. my unprepared winter wardrobe
16. everyone's obsession with holiday weight gain/loss
15. New Year Indecisions people call "Resolutions"
14. family disputes
13. cranberry sauce from a can
12. budgeting for gift procurement
11. too many dessert options
10. family members asking me about my relationship status
9. black Friday chaos
8. the lack of things to do in a small house with 25 people
7. making a Christmas list when I need virtually nothing
6. untangling Christmas lights
5. decorating for Christmas...I like the decorations, just not the activity 
4. the amount of waste gift wrapping generates
3. pie crust
2. post feast flatulence
1. the lack of Jesus in it all

feasting and such

Hmm....the holidays. What is it about them that make most of us all warm and fuzzy inside while many others fill with angst.  The few quick weeks that reel through after Thanksgiving are always a blur for me. I look forward to Pumpkin flavored desserts, snow capped roofs, mittens, Christmas music and egg nog, then before I know it: Poof, they're all gone. Funny how Jesus is not the first thought when it comes around the holidays. Actually, not too funny at all, more ironic than anything. JC is the reason for the season. I just hope that how I celebrate and live my life might make that fact better known to those around me.


La La La. The break from school has always been nice though. Too bad after graduation that whole fact is not kept within the business/working world. Bah, I talk like I know. Psh, I am about as unemployed as I'd like to admit. I work as an uncertified personal trainer and substitute teach with no credentials as an educator whatsoever. Lame. Whoever said that a college degree was necessary needs to reclaim that statement and pour it all over his instant mashed potatoes this Christmas. I'm making crap wages, living in the hood and loving every minute of it. 


Only 6 more months until I'm out of the 'Hat. Hopefully off to other adventures across the U.S. I'll be applying for internships here in the next few weeks and the top states on my list are Missouri (St. Louis), Virginia, Washington, Oregon, or Colorado. God-willing, I'll be out on another adventure soonish. I guess if the internship is not for me, I'll quickly apply for the Peace Corp and hop on down to the lower hemisphere for some more Spanish.

I'm so spoiled by the Maker of Heaven and Earth

Okay, so today started out a little shaky. I decided to wake up an hour late for work. Yes, that is correct. My obsessive plans of laying out my clothes, taking a shower last night and going to bed at a decent hour just prepared me to witness some of God's divinity. In School Suspension was my declared substitute job for the day at Manhattan High and I was pumped. However, not pumped enough to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 6:30am. Flying out of the apartment in less than 5 minutes, I figured I could just sneak in to ISS at 8:15am, relieve whoever was covering me and deal with the apologizing later in the day. On my drive to work, here I am, praying aloud asking God how the hay He might use this situation to declare Himself. Admitting my embarrassment, my shame, I continued to plead to God. Without even speeding, I arrived a few minutes after 8, walked straight back to the ISS room, much to my dismay, there were no students. However, there was a teacher, sitting there, quietly reading a newspaper. Confused, I asked him if he was covering for me or if he was here all day. He looked at me oddly and said he was there for the day, so I sulked on back to the office, expecting a conversation filled with disappointment. Get this...The secretary completely forgot to call and inform me that a full time teacher had been hired for that position and that SHE was sorry for having me come in. YES, she apologized to me! UH, not what I was expecting. I admitted it wasn't a big deal and that I needed to get myself up for the day. Her apology added a half day pay for her mistake of not calling me and here I sit. I enjoyed my morning, read, napped, organized my closet some, and now am blogging. Whew, the Lord really did use the morning chaos to bring Glory to Himself. I think I'll go spend a little time in His word to see what else He has to offer for the day.