christmas slopping?

why is christmas so stressful? it's because we are straining to think of gifts to get for our loved ones and fighting the crowds to get them. but what do you do when you have those that have everything? you shop and shop until you see something they don't have. i realized that all too often i go christmas shopping and just buy things people may not use, although they seem cool, just because i'm supposed to get them something. turns out to be a big waste of time and money when the act of giving should be a symbol of our love and thoughts for that person. my goal next year is to put a lot of thought and time into christmas gifts all throughout the year so in the end my gifts are meaningful and personal.

excuse last post

k, so my last post was written while under the influence of ambien, so please excuse the disturbance of it. justin thought i was psycho when he saw it. it's crazy the effect that drug can have on a person. my counselor has the same sleep issues as me and so he has to take ambien regularly too. he said that his wife had to take the keys away from him because he went out and drove on it one nite...not such a good thing. i can't even remember how i got from the kitchen to the bedroom after taking it, i can't imagine what would happen if i drove. so, if you ever take ambien, take it while you're in bed already and don't get back up.

dead ends

i am suddenly very interested on the course through
which our extremeties fall asleep to the point of numbness and then the pain involved in trying to reawaken them. i'm curious to the best processes to go about doing so with the least amount of discomfort involved. of course, being in my present state of being under the influence of ambien, doesn't help wake those areas up much, as i just had to crawl with my laptop out of my bedroom because my foot does not currently function. quite the site indeed. i plan to study more about this anomaly, as i see it, and will report my findings here at a later time. hopefully, i'll remember my plan to do so when i wake up. any help in this area would be very welcome and appreciated.

missing links

you dream of the day when your kids are all off to school so you can pursue more things such as cleaning, school, etc. but when that day gets here, all you can do is think about how much you miss your kids and hope they're doing ok. so at the end of the day, your kids did much better than you emotionally and probably got more done. i need to get to my list of things i want to get done and just start checking them off.

you're looking good??

i've heard a lot of back and forth about whether it's polite to tell someone they look good when they've obviously been losing weight, but never really got a straight answer about it. i want to tell them so they know it's working and be encouraged, but are they gonna be offended because it insinuates that they didn't look good before? i guess it really depends on the person you're talking to but if someone tells me i'm looking good or thinner, i'll totally take it...unfortunately, there's no chance of that for now.

seat hoarders

are people so scared of talking to people they don't know that they are willing to sit on the front row of the movie theatre rather than asking someone to scoot down one seat? i think it's crazy that people always have to put at least one seat between them and the person next to them, although i do it too. "this seat is taken...by my purse". at least when i see that the movie is pretty full or that people are having a hard time finding seats together, i give up the ghost seat. i think it's ridiculous when the hoarders get so irritated when someone who actually paid for the seat asks for it. if you don't want an actual person sitting next to you...buy an extra seat!!!

my movie reviews

recent movies i've seen and my two cents:

• Toy Story 3 - definite must and impressive for a sequel
• Shrek - do the roar! good one.
  
• Knight and Day - don't waste your time
• Letters to Juliette - great...as chick-ish as you can get
• Ironman 2 - good, but first one was better
• Eclipse - glad I didn't stay up all night opening night to see it...wait til the crowd dies down
• Karate Kid - awesome! the original is a letdown in comparison
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - horrible acting. left after 15 minutes on opening night.
  

the book hoarder i've become

so many books...so little time. i get on reading streaks and then i'll get all these books i want to read but then after a few i'll go through an extended period of no reading at all. i don't even want to read street signs during these times. so i've acquired quite the bookcase of books that i haven't even cracked yet. so i thought i'd list the unread books so i can look back occasionally and see how far i've come:

• eyes of a stranger
• santa cruise
• i heard that song before
• at first sight
• the guardian (started about 3 times)
• the purpose of christmas
• sea glass (also started a couple times)
• the memory keeper's daughter
• flashback
• raising an emotionally intelligent child
• the princess
• forever...
• keeping it together in a pull-apart world (i really should pick this one up sometime)
• princess (i)
• princess sultana's daughters (ii)
• princess sultana's circle (iii)
• mayada
• whisperings of the spirit
• the explosive child
• the choice
• the wednesday letters
• light in shadow
• get off the best-stressed list
• how i got this way and what to do about it (partially read...so i know how i got this way, just not what to do about it yet)
• a time to dance
• inkheart
• where are the children?
• the woods
• hokus pokus
• sometimes i wake up grumpy...and sometimes i let him sleep
• payback
• sunday at tiffany's
• the gift of eternal life
• the painting on the pond
• as always, dave
• the promised land series (read the 1st before the others came out and now have to reread it before going on)
• almost sisters
• fire of the covenant
• journey to zion
• hold tight
• the last child
• being the mom
• the risk of darkness
• the host
  

the books i'm in the process of reading are:

• house rules
• a train to potevka
• the gathering
• the pure in heart

i'm thinking i better get reading!!

your perception?

i feel like the way someone’s house makes you feel when you walk into it is a reflection of how you perceive that person. if you walk into the house of a person you feel is cold and self-absorbed, you will probably not be too comfortable on their couch, no matter how soft it actually is. whereas, if you were to walk into a house of someone who makes you feel warm and welcome, you probably won’t automatically look at the interior and judge it as hard and uninviting, unless it’s so messy that a rat may run out at any moment. one person may feel one way when entering someone’s house who they see a certain way while a someone else who knew that person in a different light would feel totally opposite when sitting in that same house. so my point is to get to know the person for who they really are before going to their house.

popped too long

a friend and i were talking about the amount of women from church that are pregnant at any given time. before and during the time that i had kyra for a few years, there were usually about 8-10 women pregnant at one time, overlapping each other. it reminds me of popcorn when all the kernels are popping out of control. now, i feel like we’re at the point in the popping process when there’s just a few pops here and there. makes me realize that i’m getting old and getting to that point where if i don’t watch out, i’m gonna be a stinky, burnt kernel. i guess i’m past that inviting, delicious part of my life. i just have to face facts and hope i don’t get thrown out with the bag.

emotions or no emotions?

so last week my counselor said something interesting that i hadn't really thought about, but don't think i agree with. he mentioned that we didn't have emotions before coming to earth because emotions are a physical trait and we didn't have physical bodies. but the more i thought about it, i figured we don't have bodies between our death and resurrection either, yet i've been told we're learning and i believe we can love, which are physical emotions, right? so tell me your thoughts about this, although it's probably one of those answers we won't know while we're here.