and puppy dog tails

boys are so interesting to me. to be completely honest, i am quite fascinated by them. i have two brothers, but have only recently started spending time with them so i have less of a start on unlocking their minds then others. here is what struck me about the male race today. boys can be the most gentle, loving creatures one moment and then attempt to crush the life out of you in the next. for example: there is a one year old named myron that i work with. he is your average, run of the mill one year old. today, i was holding him and walking around the room. he was giving me the nicest hugs and every once in a while would look at me and gently put his hand on my neck. so sweet! then we sat down and i was talking to another child who made me laugh. as i started laughing, it seemed to instantly get myron all excited and worked up. he put his hands around my neck and started choking me! i removed his hands and asked him to be gentle. he then proceeded to start thrashing around and hitting me and squeezing me with all his little man strength. my conclusion? boys must be mini jekel and hydes. :)

what are they thinking?

i was driving to somewhere yesterday and happened to be people watching as i went. i know... who would guess! either way, there was this little boy on his bike riding down the street and all the sudden he just stopped, looked over his shoulder, and gave the thumbs up to this huge oak tree. there was no one in the tree. odd. then, on the corner, there was an elderly couple. the gentleman pointed to a place in the sky, then to another place, and then another. there was nothing in the sky. not a plane, not a cloud, not a bird. it apparently didn't matter. he and his lady friend just continued peering contentedly! interesting.
okay. new topic. i received my cda (child development associates) certificate this week. it only took me ten and a half months to complete the work and testing. not too shabby!!!
i want to know who the annonymous comment was from on my last posting. i hope it was my mom because it sounded just like something she would say. :)
time to do my new feature (drum roll people): new season, tv review. here we go:
Lost: not very interesting.
CSI:NY: ho, hum. i'm willing to give it a month though, just cause i love CSI.
Survivor: goodness. they're all morons and it's so dumb doing boys against girls. what is this? kindergarten?
Amazing Race finale (i realize, not a new season...): not what i wanted at all. i belive the most cutthroat or good-looking couples should win, unless they have totally stolen my heart. chip and his wife were none of the above. rob and amber in survivor were all three.
Apprentice: love it! here is where we get to see full of themself people take on other similar people. let the cat fights and dumb decisions begin!!!
Jack and Bobby: not interested.
CSI: i love you all! keep up the good work and one liners!

other shows i still intend to catch: the OC, Alias, and Tru Calling.
good night, all!!!

new shoes

i bought two new pairs of shoes today. they are cats, and i am in love... one pair is brown and the other is blue. they look like blue tile you would find in someone's kitchen. very weird, yet cool. I Love Mittens!
last night amanda and i went by the mu for some ddr. there were these little japanese kids who were tearing up the carpet. all we could do was watch in awe. one day, we too will have achieved greatness... jeff and erik and i did ddr at the mall again this afternoon. they have both moved up to "light" after just one run through. i am still at "beginner" level.
i have decided to adopt a possitive attitude as i walk through my trials. i shall from now on take heart and be encouraged, knowing that the testing of my faith shall produce patience, which i did in fact ask God for a few months ago. be careful what you wish for...
i made two dishes of manicotti today in under an hour. a personal record that i am proud of. yesterday i made tex-mex chili, goulash, and that unsexy dish: meatloaf, all in under three hours. i now am less stressed out about the concept of putting food on the table in a timely manner... so long as i am not cooking for fourteen that is!
good night...

dance til the cows come home

i was totally on my way out the door to the gym tonight when something came up and i had to skip it. no fears though! amanda and i went to the mall and did approx. sixteen dances on dance dance revolution EXTREME!!! i've decided it's more effective than the tread mill cause i break a sweat quicker. tomorrow night is another round of dancing in ames. Yeah!!! Survivor premiered tonight. just thought it deserved a shout out... i am guessing that a girl will win again this season.
at work today, there was a little girl who was just having a rough day. she got tubes put in her ears this week and another child woke her up an hour into her two and a half hour nap. either way, she kept getting in trouble and she didn't want anything to do with me at this point because i kept having to put her in time out. then another child stepped on her hand. as the tears started flowing, she waddled over to me as fast as her stubby legs could take her and held her small hand up to my mouth to kiss it because to her, that would make it all better. it was so precious. it melts my heart every time i realize how much trust they put in me and my abilities to right wrong. it made me think of God and how ofter, when He's training us, we want nothing to do with Him, but the second we are hurt by the world around us we go right back to Him. with tears streaming down our faces we offer our wounds to Him knowing it's the only place we will find healing and true comfort...

no regrets...

today, was a day. i have decided that it is imperative for my well being to start getting eight hours of sleep a night again. starting in twenty minutes. i have been thinking about death a lot lately. not in a suicidal way, by any means, but in a matter of fact, who knows when it's going to happen sort of way. i just finished season one of showtime's "dead like me." it's a very interesting slant on it all. i found out today that one of my favorite great uncles died back in march. no one ever tells me anything worth knowing in a timely fashion in my family!
i feel like life is happening around me, but i am not an active participant. every once in a while i will partake in it, but as a rule, i feel more like a window shopper in life. i don't want to have any regrets. i don't want to leave knowing i could have done more to ease another's burdens. i don't want to die without those nearest to me having heard i love them through my word and actions. i want to do dance, dance, revolution at least a hundred more times!
i had a nice dinner with amanda and my grandparents today. my grandpa is such a handsome charmer! everyone i have ever introduced him to has fallen in love instantly. i really don't blame them...:)
i'm going to the rock in ames this weekend to listen to tom short preach on the daVinci code (and to do dance, dance, revolution... of course). i can't wait. just three more days of work to survive this week...
verse of the while: "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else i would give it...The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart- these, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17)

big weekend

this was a good weekend. congrats to robert and jessica on their marriage! six months from first date to wedding isn't too bad. :) i wore a new pair of shoes this morning and within twenty minutes i had a huge blister on my left big toe. sorrows! last night we went bowling at the mu in ames. tons of fun. in the three games i played i never broke eighty. my skills are gone. erik broke a hundred in like the forth frame or something disgusting like that. we all decided not to speak to him after his turkey. amanda and i decided to follow his lead and try out the dance machine though. i am sooo uncoordinated for those of you who didn't know. it was such a blast! everyone who did it totally broke a sweat. they give you a grade after every dance. erik was a consistent c, amanda and i got a lot of d's before she got a c, and jeff put us all to shame withhis steady b's! lol! i highly recommend the song "Live this Life" by Big and Rich. it's not a country song. it's my newest fave. my "tech support" had a chance to set up our router today so no more pirating. :( it was fun while it lasted, but i'm told i will enjoy having a strong signal even better. i choose to believe...

Peaches

"My bretheren, count it all joy, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4
"Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self... If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people." Oswald Chambers.

These are just a few thoughs that I have been meditating on lately. I have been trying to stay strong during trials lately, but it hasn't been easy. I've been pretty discouraged and feeling quite alone in my battle. I was telling God how I felt earlier and He set out to immediately bless and encourage me. One of my friends came over to help me set up the internet on my computer (we ended up pirating it from a neighbors house), and to steal peaches from another neighbors backyard. A little criminl activity is always a great pick me up. :) I had no sooner set foot back in my house when another friend invited me to go see Collateral with him and one of his roommates! I may not have a social life at this point in time, but at least I had a social night!
good-night all...

finally

so after much waiting (under two weeks) and worry, my laptop has arrived! Yeah! it's very pretty and i could carry it in one hand if history hadn't shown us that i tend to be rather clumsy in life. at this point, my computer serves me by allowing me to play solitaire. this is all the further i have made it in uncovering its secrets. did i mention it's pretty? cause it is. my goal is to have the whole internet thing worked out within a week... by worked out, i am implying that i would appreciate directives as to what i must do. i know nothing in this area. at least i have a wireless thing inside my computer. amanda went without one because the one that had one in it already wasn't as cute... ok, i would have done the same thing in her position. that's the nice thing about customizing ones computer... i'm off to discover wallpaper! good night!

my shortening fuse

"spare the rod, spoil the child." i know a lot of people are against corporal punishment, but i, for one, am a huge supporter. more and more i am having to deal with children who have no respect for authority, and lack a healthy fear of consequences. it drives me mad to hear children call their mother's by their first names and tell their parents to shut-up. the reason "because i said so, and i'm the adult" carries no weight anymore. because people are afraid of squelching children's personalities, children are growing up more uncentered and out of control. when a child is allowed to make all the decisions and everything is made to revolve around him, just to avoid a scene, there's a problem. children who have no discipline in their lives are not being properly prepared to live in the real world. a world where they are not number one and where they are required to answer to an authority who doesn't care what they want or how they feel. i am not advocating controlling children, i am just promoting the setting of boundaries and the dedication to follow through with promised consequences. adults must make rules and be willing to take the time and energy necessary to enforce them. set an example for them by submitting gracefully to those in authority over you. show them that everyone answers to someone. okay, this is kinda heavy and i have so much more to say on the topic, but it's probably best to stop now. i wanna give kudos to dana c. and shirley a., though. thanks for being such great examples of loving your children to the point of tears...

where do i live again?

so today i receive the confirmation email informing me that my laptop has been sent out. unfortunately, i noticed that i had given them an incorrect shipping address. *sigh* as a result i was required to make a trip to the post office where i proceeded to have to explain my situation to the man behind the counter. after a few minutes of him teasing me about combining the street names of my past and previous residences, i found myself on the phone with the postmaster general, explaining my blunder once again. then this afternoon when i was at the gym finalizing my membership, it was brought to my attention that my house number is not what i thought it was which means i'm going to have to go back to the post office! how embarrassing. :)
on a higher note, i got my hair cut today and i positively love it.

a sure sign you're in iowa

hi. so i decided about a month ago that i wanted a blog for two reasons: 1) so the people i should keep in better contact with, but don't, can check up on me, and 2) because i saw a mouse.
let me tell you about the mouse. i was sitting at a red light, by the mall and this mouse runs across the road with its tail sticking straight up like that was enough for someone to see it and not hit it. so as i'm watching this mouse run, i'm asking myself "who do i tell? what outlet do i have for this story?" when i realized i had no true outlet, i decided to create one, and here i am! gn.