Catching up

It's not that I don't have other things to do at the moment, because I certainly do - BUT I felt that it was important to update the blog. I've discovered a few relatives out there actually read up about my life. YAY! Here's the latest.

Work: Man, while the government sure does take a long ass time to do a lot of things, my job is not one of them. It is "rush rush rush!!" every day of the week. And really, in all fairness, there are only so many people to do what needs to get done. Overall, I think I've learned to respect the institution a little more. Sure I'm impatient and don't like waiting, but now that I'm on the other side of actually doing - I want to say to some people "Gimme a break! HR is short handed. We need you to chill and wait." Regardless I still love my job. It's awesome. While I'm not sure that I'm actually using HR stuff I've learned yet, I've definitely gotten to use some Project Management skills. Who knows.. maybe after I graduate from CCU I'll go on and get a masters in something. Project Management? Eh... we'll see.

School: This coming Wednesday (July 15) is our last class. We have to give a 5-10 minute presentation. I chose to do mine on the movie 12 Angry Men. I basically get to dissect the movie and point out all the Social Psychology stuff we've learned over the last 5 weeks. I've actually seen the movie several times, the original one, and it's a good flick. After this class is over I have a break till October I think. Which is nice. I need some down time to not worry about school. Writing assignments, threaded discussions, quizzes and 4 hours in one night is a little much with everything else going on. But - I've been busier. The material is super interesting though. Last week we talked about Aggression. Now, aggression is a touchy subject for me. I consider myself a pretty aggressive person at times. At work I've been told that I'm soo aggressive or too assertive. Whatever people. I'm just trying to get the job done. I wasn't hired to make someone else feel better about themselves. Anyway - aggression. So yeah, this lead to what motivates aggression and then that lead into prejudice and discrimination. Well, this is something else that I've had a little bit of experience with over the years. For one, growing up in hick-ville North Carolina didn't help. Nor did it help that my own grandparents were extremely racist. But, throughout it all my mom always taught my sister and I that everyone was equal. That we are not better than ANYONE else nor is anyone better than us. It seemed easy enough to understand and so we had a fairly wide range of friends. I actually remember when we moved to FL. There were NO black kids at my middle school. NONE. And the white kids were mean and snotty. All I wanted was a black kid to be friends with. It never happened of course because I was living in the oldest/whitest capital city in Florida. So what I discovered in class the other night is that there is whole other range of prejudice and discrimination that I've never even had to deal with or worry about. A gentleman in class is from Malaysia. He told us that the lower 3 provinces of the country are literally killing people that aren't Muslim. I was shocked. I sat there staring at him with my mouth open not sure of what to do or say. And really, I shouldn't be all that surprised. People are killed because of their faith every day. I guess I just want to think that we've grown from that and have learned to let people believe in what they want. BOY, AM I DUMB?! Anyways, it just opened my eyes to something that I never really put much thought into. And now every day I am thinking about it. And I hate that people are dying because they don't look a certain way or believe in the same thing. It's horrifying really.

The other issue that got brought up is violence in the media. Studies have shown that the more violence that is viewed, the less people react to a violent situation. Because of all the violence on tv and in movies, our society has become de-sensitized. Isn't that horrible? There was actually a case in 1938 where a woman was stabbed to death on the sidewalk outside of her home by a man she did not know. 38 people stood by and did NOTHING. NOTHING!! And that was in 1938. Just think of all the crap that's out there today. It's disgusting really. Ugh.

So part of why this is so interesting to me has to do with the squirt. He is going to be 4 years old in November. 4!! I can't believe how quickly the time flies. Well, a weekend or two ago we are playing with his legos and he builds a "gun". He points it at me and makes the sounds of a play gun. My sister was there too and thankfully she was as shocked as I was. Where does he learn that? We don't know him anything with guns? What is the right age for a child to play with guns? Toy ones of course, but still. He has 2 squirt guns now. Now, I grew up with guns in the house so I've never been afraid of them or feared them in any way. I learned at a very young age to respect a gun as a weapon and tool for means of protection. Not for pleasure. I know there are people who enjoy shooting random objects. I'm not one of them. I've done it. It was ok but didn't really get the blood pumping. Anyways... so what do I do now? How do I tell my step-son, "It's not ok to point a lego gun at Mimi and pretent to shoot her?" Cause then am I taking away his fun? UGH! This is stuff I didn't even think I'd have to deal with yet. He's too little!!

Moving on...

Life: So we move in 2 weeks. The days are flying by and I feel so disorganized. There's still so much to pack and of course I want to go through everything in case something needs to be purged. I love purging. It makes me feel better to get rid of something I don't need or want and give to someone else who might use it. Recycling basically. I love it. Anyways, of course these next couple weeks are going to fly by. And here's something to make you laugh. I have seriously signed up to dog sit 6 dogs this coming weekend. YEP. 3 are going to be at the house with us and the other 3 I'm just checking in on. But still - lots of doggy action. Hee hee... I sure do love them though. In addition to the dogs this weekend we actually get to have the kid with us Tues - Sat. YEP. Baby-Momma is heading out of town and so we get to have him. I can't wait! He's at that age where since he's talking all the time he says, "I love you Mimi" and "Mimi, will you read with me?" on a regular basis. It's awesome. I'm hoping to work it so that I get to stay home with him and daddy on Friday for at least half a day. We'll see.

Um. Ace and I are doing well. I think we are both just really excited for the move and this being our first real place to call "ours". The location is amazing so that's a huge plus too. It's really close to the light rail so who knows.. maybe I'll be saving money on gas by taking that and crossing over to the bus for a ride to work. Anything to save a buck, right? RIGHT!! Oh, did I mention that I got a FREE RTD pass through the government? Yep. It's awesome. I love it.

So now that school will be over after next week I am hopefully going to finish some knitting projects. I have a pair of socks that I've been working on since, literally, January 2008. For myself. I am determined to get them done so I can wear them this fall. I also just found a fabulous pattern for a scarf so I think I want to make my best friend, the princess, a gift for her new climate. YAY D.C.!! I'm also really motivated to sew right now. But I need to have the sewing machine serviced first. Then I think I'd like to attend a basic sewing class somewhere. It's been ages since I sewed and I don't really remember stuff. It's not like riding a bike.

I can't really think of much else. Health wise I'm doing ok. Still trying to figure out the damn migraines. But you know what's funny?! Ever since I saw my stomach Dr last year and he diagnosed me with IBS... I have hardly had any issues. Seriously. I have these fabulous little green pills to pop any time I start to feel a horrible upset stomach coming on, but I've hardly had to use them. It's awesome. YAY! Now if only my stupid head would work that way. Ugh. Hormones. Also, still on the chunky side for my standards. Another thing I'm hoping to accomplish once we move - get into a routine of working out. I actually crave it right now, but with my busy schedule I'm pooped out by the time I have 20 minutes to do something. I'd rather nap instead. Have I ever mentioned how much I love naps? They are fabulous.

Anyhoo... still addicted to Twilight. Damn that series. Still trying to watch at least 1 movie a week. Nothing good enough to report. If I haven't mentioned it before, run out now and listen to something by Ray LaMontagne. He's lovely. I say that as I have Outkast playing on the iPod. LOL... oh well. I do love all kinds of music.

That's it for now. Peace peeps.