March List, and a little rambling

     A beautiful spring to you, my dears! For once, we're actually having one that's long enough to call itself that! I'm hoping for another full month of it. It's certainly been a pretty enough March here in Mississippi. My little thin blooded self was glad to see warm weather come early so I could pack up the sweaters and flannel pj pants and break out the flip-flops and shorts! I even bought a great swimsuit top the other day at Goody's for, this is just amazing, $1. Yes, one whole dollar. Clearance shopping at its best!

     We've been transitioning our house from cool weather to warm, in rapid mode. One week it's 40° out and the next it's 80°? Crazy. We had daffodils for a while, then our tulips, cherries, and dogwoods finally bloomed. Now we have a front flowerbed full of pretty bright pink Loropetalums (or however you say it) that are almost infested with mosquito hawks. I guess that means we won't have malaria anytime soon, but geez those things get everywhere. And we also have my least favorite...spiders. Our neighbor got bitten by one (oh yes, I just loved hearing that story) and had to be hospitalized twice for complications from it. Gross nasty kill them with a shotgun spiders. Regular ones inside are bad enough, but we have bad ones like black widows outside too. They just love our back porch for some reason. It's the same routine every year...they come, I threaten to move out, the parents call the pest people to spray (already done for this spring!), then everyone's happy again.
     You think I'm overreacting on the spider thing? I swear they come after me specifically. They wait until I'm in vulnerable positions, then attack. Like sitting on the toilet. (This is one of the times living at home has its perks...someone else to rescue you!) Had that happen more than once actually. Or home alone. That's when the big ones show up. The 'I'd rather sell the house than kill that' ones. During spring break when my family was gone to Belize, I found something on the floor I thought was a big ball of fuzz or something. Nope, it was a spider so fat it was plumb round. It had gotten turned upside down and couldn't get back over, it was so fat. I was brave and squished it, and it made the most God-awful squirshy splat. I gagged for about two hours after that. I didn't even pick it up and flush it. Nope, just vacuumed it on down to the Devil. Where those things belong.

     Anyhow, that's enough on that tangent, I'm starting to get all creeped out...back to business!

MARCH

*Wheel of Darkness - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

*Cold Vengeance - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife - Sara Horn

*Run with the Horsemen - Ferrol Sams

*Whisper of the River - Ferrol Sams

*When the World Was Young - Ferrol Sams

Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier

Glory Road - Robert A. Heinlein

A Bend in the Road - Nicholas Sparks

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

The Host - Stephenie Meyer
*The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
*Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
*Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
     That makes fourteen for this month, and a total of 38 for this year so far. Next month ought to get fun. I'm running out of new books to read, so I'm going to have to get creative on a book list. Most of mine have been reread so many times it's just not that fun anymore...kind of like going on a blind date with the same person eight times. 

     I nearly ended up not picking a favorite book this month. I nearly didn't read those last three books at all. I was all set against jumping on the Hunger Games bandwagon like I'm sad to say I did when the Twilight books came out (though, to be fair I did read those well before their big popularity came). But a lot of my friends have read them and all say they're actually great books. And then I saw the movie trailer come out and it looked really, really good. Then my best friend Adam got ahold of them...and Lord help me, he's been PRing them to me full time. So...I folded. I make it a rule not to watch the movie before the book (the books are always so much better, aren't they?), so what else was I to do but go out and get myself a copy? Wal-Mart special - the first book is only six dollars and change, and the other two in hardback are cheaper than most B&N paperbacks. To be safe, I did only buy the first one, just in case I ended up not loving them. Well, I was back the very next day buying books two and three. And now Molly's reading them, with me hurrying her along so we can both go see in in theater! 

     I do recommend the Proverbs 31 book for all you ladies out there around the dating and marrying age. I read through it, and when I was looking for some new reading material to send to my Ecuadorian roomie Laura I thought it'd be perfect for her. She's getting married this summer right after coming home, and (MAJOR kudos to her) planning her wedding just about entirely via Skype and mom. She says it's amazing how much you can do with the Internet, but I say it's an amazing tribute to her extraordinary patience and selflessness. My OCD self would have already given it up for a lost cause, but Laura's still hanging in there. Ladies who are already married, you know all the planning it takes, and ladies who aren't, you can imagine! So send up a prayer for her, especially as the time gets closer and closer to coming home and her big day!



    Keep me on your prayer lists too. I'm still on the job hunt...still hunting. If your ear happens to catch news of a job in the banking, secretary/office assistant, etc. world, give me a shout! I applied last week for a opening Regions bank in Oxford had, and I'm scouting out more with my and my dad's contacts. I'm really leaning towards any openings in a bank environment, hoping to make use of my business degree and get a job that would give me an opportunity to learn and advance myself so I can stay there for a while. I've been thinking hard on this since Christmas and I have a really good feeling about moving in this direction. Hopefully I'll find out soon if I end up there! Wish me luck!

Spring Break and Unemployment

     I graduated from academia for the foreeable future last May, and life is kind of strange when you no longer have to base your life around the academic calendar. You buy planners that run from January to December. You realize that summer actually begins when it gets hot outside and the sno-cone stand opens, not just when the school bus stops running.

     This spring break, my sister and parents are on a mission trip in Belize. And this summer after my sister's graduation they've planned a senior trip for her and her best friend to Orlando. I'm missing out on both of these on purpose. Why? One main reason, and it's really gotten under my skin.

     I am unemployed. Period. I am missing the spring break trip because I had hoped to be employed by now, and I'm missing the Orlando trip because I'm praying to be employed by then.

     Like I said, I graduated last May. After working with Global Outreach last year and coming home, in December I was going stir-crazy sitting around the house every day so I started applying for jobs. One in particular had me really excited. BancorpSouth had several amazing job openings in their technology center, complete with great pay and benefits, that I was more than qualified for, and I was able to get some amazing references (like one of their VPs) that put me in a very good place in applying. For these positions, I had to apply through a temp agency. The lady there took my resume and said she'd submit it, but that I probably wouldn't get that job anyway, and I never heard anything back from her. Nearly three months later, after bugging my connections there every week asking for news about the jobs, they hire other people. I find out afterwards that the temp agency lady never submitted my resume in the first place, so I waited all that time for nothing. After a large blow up from my VP friend, that lady won't be getting away with that anymore, but I still feel very cheated and very unemployed. My resume is now on their waiting list for the next job that comes available, but I kind of feel like I've already done my waiting, you know?
    
     I'm not sure why it's so hard to find a job, even considering the current economy. I've got a rather different skill set than you're average hiree, but I'm pretty sure I'm still what you call qualified. I spent three years in interior design/art school, then I did my associates in business in my last year. I also got certified in phlebotomy in case Global decided to send me to a location where they did medical outreach, even though that's not the field I particularly want a job in. I'm also experienced as a chef, both in a restaurant and pastry/baking setting. I have really great computer and organizational/secretarial skills, I've taught music lessons for several years, I'm surprisingly fluent with medications and pharmacology (I've lived with two nurses and my sister is fixing to be in RN school), and I love literature and history. 
     Even having all that under my belt, I can not find a job for mess. This is what I'm looking for: something stable and full-time, a decent work environment, more than minimum wage, no retail or food service. I'd like some sort of office environment but that's not a must have, and I'd like to have the option to advance. Also, something I can physically handle. I'm a small, petite female, and that caused some health problems for me in my restaurant cooking job (ex. If I only weigh 115, I shouldn't be lifting a 50 lb. sack of flour).
      The things I think I'd want most in a job is that it have variety, and that I could leave it there when I come home. The variety part could be working with different people every day, or be able to do different tasks during the day, or just working with people who can keep up good conversation and keep the day moving along. Being able to leave it when I come home means that I don't have to stress all day about doing my job right, and then come home and keep worrying about the problems I had that day and how I'm going to fix them tomorrow. I don't think work should follow you home.

     I have been sitting at home every day waiting on various jobs since October. I'm not necessarily a extroverted, high energy person, but even I am maxxed out on housetime. It wears on you, not having something to accomplish or work on. Even with Pinterest or reading or thinking up projects for myself to do, life gets really monotonous. My dad tells me to go ride my bike or walk or to go to town, but I'd still be by myself and just killing time like always.
     One of the worst things, the thing I hate most, is when people ask me 'Well, what are you doing these days?'. All adults asks college aged kids that question. It is so frustrating to me to have nothing to say other than, well, nothing. Every time I answer the 'What are you doing?' question, I either get an 'Oh...okay' response or a 'Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out soon'. I know that there's no reason I should be embarrased by being unemployed or not know what I want to do yet, but for some reason I feel like they're all giving me this look like 'Gah, go get a freaking job if you're not going to go to college anymore, lazy butt!'. Especially the ones who answer with 'Oh...'.

     A job would be useful in so many other ways. Like the paycheck part. I'm 22, I live with my parents, and I have to depend on them for everything. Gas if I go anywhere, money to eat if I'm not with them, clothes, even the stuff I just see and want like a new purse or pair of earrings. They're great and don't mind paying for my things, since I'm pretty low maintenence, but I very much miss when I made my own money and could spend it on the things I wanted. It doesn't matter if you have everything you need, it still feels good knowing you can provide for yourself. I know my parents like having me at home as well, but I liked having my own place too. I like having my own space, and I loved being able to decorate and use my furniture and stuff. I don't dislike living at home, I think it's more about being independent and getting to make my own choices. And it is harder when you move out, then back in, then out, then back in again. You get used to your own routine, then have to adjust back to the group.

     I don't know. This is just me talking out of my head, letting some of what's built up get out. If you all have any thoughts, let me know them! I could use some feedback, and some prayers if you're willing to give up a few seconds for me. And please, if you know of a job in the Pontotoc, Oxford, Tupelo, or New Albany area that fits my bill, let me know!!!!!

Changing the World, My Way

   
     This isn't a response to the Stop Kony video. I haven't even seen the video that has gone viral in the last few days thanks to Twitter and Facebook publicity; my wi-fi data limit would never survive me watching a 30 minute You-Tube video. And as interesting and debate worthy a topic as I'm sure it is, it's not worth me being cut off from the Internet for the remainder of my billing cycle, sorry.

     No, this blog is just something I happened to start thinking about randomly tonight. If I could change anything I wanted to to make the world better, how would I go about doing it? That's not something we really think about seriously very often, because realistically it's not going to happen. I mean, I'm never going to be able to just yell over to the middle east and go 'Hey yall! Stop this fighting! Do you want me to call your mama?!' Seriously, it would take a minor act of God to stop that mess. I say minor, because all it'd take is one or two angels and BAM, there'd be a greasy spot where a few of those countries used to be.
     But here's a list of the things I came up with if I magically could have my world-changing wishes. Some things are big, some are really small, but I think they'd all be significant to at least a few people:

1. Establish much better guidelines to a few of our more taken-for-granted privileges:
                    Parenting - Sometimes I really do think you should be required to have a license to become a parent. I am not a parent, not yet. I hope to have the chance someday, much farther down the road. Even so, some things about the concept are so simple even I can't miss them. You're the parent, that is your child. You are supposed to love that child more than anything in the world. That means you give up things for it, including your 'partying days'. You can't go out every night until almost dawn and leave your baby at home with a sitter. You can't expect Mama and Daddy to take over for you as parents until you grow up yourself. You can't have an iPad and new tattoos every month and take vacations while your kid needs new shoes. You can't raise a child and pay bills just working your part time job and spending the rest of the day ill because your kid cries to watch her favorite movie instead of Jersey Shore. Grow up, take responsibility, and love your baby like God intended for you to when He blessed you with it. There's a ton of people that would jump at the opportunity you have to love a child.

         
          Welfare - I'm a 22 year old college graduate. I've been looking for a job for several months now with no luck. I had to move back in with my parents after college because I knew I couldn't afford rent for an apartment, much less other bills, with no salary. It ticks me off when I go places like the Health Department and see someone getting their seven kids free school shots, and them playing on an iPad. Or someone loading up their brand new Escalade at WIC. Or someone paying for groceries with their food stamps and EBT, then turning around and shelling out a load of cash for half a buggy of beer and cigarettes. The way I was raised, unless it's from my immediate family I'm not going to ask anybody for monetary help unless I'm down to my last can of tomato soup and I know there's no way I'm going to be able to eat tomorrow. I'm serious, if you have the money for all that mess, you ain't really hurting then, are you?

2. Set the education system up so that everyone has four years of college for free in one of their state universities. This way, everyone has the opportunity to advance their education to at least a bachelor's degree. Nothing fancy, not Ivy League, but a bachelors degree would give everyone a fighting chance in the job market and at the very least advance our nation's learning curve. A lot of people in our nation have become ignorant of learning anything past high school on purpose, and we could go a long way in correcting that. I actually think if we started this ball rolling, it would greatly increase the number of masters and doctorate students and graduates we would have. Wanting to learn is very habit forming, once you've found something you're passionate about.

3. Move the age for purchasing tobacco/cigarettes up to 21. Around here I know I'd catch a ton of flack for that proposition, but it's a matter of personal opinion. I loathe smoking, cigarettes, anything involved with the whole process, and dipping is no better. I just think it's so disgusting and unattractive for a person to do, plus being about the worst habit you can have health-wise other than sky-diving sans-parachute. I know even if we moved the age to 21 kids would find ways around the rule, but I see no reason to make it easy for them to buy it at age 18.

4. Free healthcare to all college students. A big thing I saw in college was a lot of kids didn't go to the doctor when they got sick because they didn't have health insurance. Most kids if they were on a state healthcare stopped being covered when they turned 18 or 19 or when they moved out. If they got sick, they could rarely afford a visit to the Student Health Center or an Acute Care, plus shots and medicine. So they just stayed miserable and sick for a month or so until whatever bug they had finally moved on. (The most notorious friend for doing this is my friend Adam. He's awful about suffering through sickness.) If collegiates had access to free, or even cheap, healthcare I'm betting it'd knock the flu and mono percentages down significantly every year, especially in the dorm kids.

5. Make US adoptions easier and more affordable. Don't get me wrong, I know many people who have adopted babies and even older children from China, different parts of Africa, Korea, you name it, and they love their children more than anything. I know they wouldn't have their babies any other way. But there are so many kids in the foster system here that bounce around their whole lives just waiting for someone to come along for them. One of my cousins was adopted as a baby from here, and I know his parents had to go through years of red tape and paperwork and spend a world of money to make his adoption happen. They love him no less for that, probably even more than they would have if he would have been their flesh and blood, but it was quite a struggle getting him home with them. Another couple I know is just starting the adoption process for a US adoption, and they're struggling with how complicated it is. It seems to me like it should just be a matter of making sure they're amazing, loving parents, and matching them to a child that they love.

     I myself have thought of one day adopting. If I ever did, I would want it to be from the US, and I'd want an older child, for several reasons. First, as noble as it is to adopt a child from somewhere across the world, I think I'd want to help a child close to home first, and I think it'd make the transition easier on both the child and the parents. Next, I'd want an older child because so often they're the ones who never make it to a permanent home. If they're not adopted by the time they're in school, chances are they never will be. It's like a puppy, they aren't cute and cuddy anymore so no one wants them. I'd want to give an older child that second chance that he or she might not get with anyone else. And last, even though I want kids of my own, I would love to adopt a child just so I could share that overflowing love that I know parents feel with someone who may have not ever felt a big ol' warm hug in their life before, or may have not ever had a story read to them before bedtime, all those childhood things we take for granted. I would love to be able to give that gift to some little boy or girl.

6. Eliminate the words 'fat' and 'skinny' from the English language. All my life, I've heard those words, both of them, used as some of the worst derogatory terms in our vocabulary. You can wound a girl quicker with one of those words than with most any of the other insults we use. And yes, skinny can be an insult too. As I grew up, I was on the lighter end of the scale. Not by choice, I have always had such a high metabolism that I couldn't gain weight even when I was trying, and most of my family is small boned and petite like me. But to hear the girls that were always dieting or worrying over their weight talk, boy was my being skinny a bad thing. It was like I deliberately tried to be skinny to torment them. Guys, let me give you some advice. Do not ever answer the question 'Do I look fat in this?' with anything except 'Babe, you look amazing in that.' Just go ahead and practice, because that is the only proper response to that question :)

7. This one is a personal hope of mine, and I hope it makes my children's world a little easier than mine was. My greatest hope for my children is that they have an amazing, fun, and 100% average childhood. I emphasize average there. I absolutely do not want my children following in my footsteps and making straight A+ grades. A's and B's would be great. In hindsight, my life would have been so much easier had I not started out as the smart kid, the nerd, and gotten that reputation. Maybe if I hadn't my middle and high school years would have been a little more fun and relaxed. I'm hoping for my children that they can go through school and not have kids make fun of them for being smart or eager to learn, that they can be more like the other kids than I was, and that maybe they'll have more of a memorable, well-rounded school experience. I think they'd benefit more from experiencing a little of everything, school, sports, arts, clubs, friends, the whole package, than they would just clamping down on the textbooks in the effort of trying to achieve that 4.0.

8. Totally cancel the entire genre of Reality TV. All of it, every show. It's beyond crazy, beyond stupidity, into something I think is called mindnumbing brain rot. I think it's the reason half the people in our country are going ape crazy retarded these days, they get their ideas off these nutball tv shows. I mean seriously, when you can make a tv show out of who does the best crazy hairstyles, or who has the most psychotic addictions, you know there is something seriously wrong in your brain.

So, that was my Rosie the Riveter 'I Can Do It' sermon of the month :) There's no clue what might pop into my head next time, so stay tuned! You might be surprised.



February Books and Paperback Swap

     Hey guys! It feels like forever since I've posted...because it HAS been ages. February hasn't really been that interesting for us, just a short so-so month. But, I've still been reading, and here's the list!

     Something great I found this month: paperbackswap.com. This might just be the best idea anybody has every had, even counting makeup and hair straighteners. The deal is: you list books you no longer want, people request them, you mail them off. For the books you mail off you get credits. With these you purchase the books other people have listed that THEY no longer want. So basically, you're trading a book you don't want for one you do and all you're paying is about $2.50 postage.
     And before you ask, yes it does work. So far I've mailed off two and got back two. The books have to be in good condition so you're not going to get some ratty, coverless paperback in exchange for your opened-one-time hardback. And there are really great books on there, not just the cruddy ones no one likes. No membership fees, no hidden catches.
     If you're an avid reader like I am and you're going broke from Barnes and Noble's prices and Amazon's book shipping fees, you absolutely HAVE to check this out.

FEBRUARY

Portrait in Sepia - Isabel Allende
The Codex - Douglas Preston
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
Salem Falls - Jodi Picoult
The Dead Travel Fast - Deanna Raybourn
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
The Guardian - Nicholas Sparks
*The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
*The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures - J. H. Patterson (This is the book the movie 
     'The Ghost and the Darkness' was made from)
How Starbucks Saved My Life - Michael Gates Gill
*Book of the Dead - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

    
     Once again, starred (*) books are books in a series. That gives me a total of 12 for the month of February, 24 for the year so far.


     I meant to do this last month but I totally forgot. My favorite book this month was a tossup between 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' by Lisa See and 'The Dead Travel Fast' by Deanna Raybourn.
     I bought 'Snow Flower...' because I saw a trailer for a movie version coming out soon, and thinking it looked good I wanted to read the book beforeI had a chance to see it. It was along the lines of the book version of Memoirs of a Geisha or something written by Isabel Allende, a Chilean American writer I like. I definitely recommend it if you like historical fictionn that's written very descriptively, and makes you feel for and identify with the characters.
     'The Dead Travel Fast' is written by Deanna Raybourn, who is the author of a mystery series I love. This book is a stand alone book that is not part of her series, but I found it on Amazon really cheap and had some gift card money left over. Turns out I liked it as much as the series. It leans more toward the fantasy genre than historic, but is written to move fast and keep you in the book. Definitely a good read.
  
     Until next time, keep reading!