I Resolve!!!!

To not wait until the absolute LAST second to buy Christmas presents this year. Every year I think to myself, "Not this year! I will NOT be shopping on Christmas Eve (or anytime during the week prior)!" And, every year, I am mistaken.

It's not that I don't like giving presents. On the contrary, I quite like seeing the reactions of the people closest to me when I watch them open their gifts. What I don't like, however, is the rush of people during the holiday season.

Look around this year when you're out getting gifts for your friends and family. People look agitated. This is not the look of the Christmas spirit (or Hanukah, if you prefer). And the fights! Between grown adults! A couple of years ago, there was a stampede at a toy store. A toy store! Trust me, people. Your kid will NOT keel over and die if you don't him/her the talking/tickle me/dancing/possessed Elmo doll this year! That toy was creepy, if you ask me....

I prefer a more leisurely shopping experience. I want to look at the lights, listen to the music, and take my time. I don't want to fight with you over the last pair of cashmere gloves. I, also, do not want to spend YEARS in line. Time is money, after all. And my time is valuable to me, as I'm certain yours is to you.

We've lost sight of what's important in life. It's not about who's got the best car or the coolest outfit or the latest gadget. It's our family, friends, health and life. There are soooo many people in the world that don't even have a CLUE where their next meal will come from. There are people who go to bed at night and aren't sure that they will wake up in the morning because of diseases carried by mosquitos. There are people who don't have a good, sturdy roof over their head. If you're reading this, that means that you (at a minimum) have access to a library. A library! Filled with books that can teach you nearly ANYTHING you'd ever want to know! You could learn a whole new skill and not even have to pay for it!

This year, I am going to pour over the catolog that World Vision puts out each year. I'm going to find 5 different gifts that I can send to someone who is less fortunate than I am. I have a job. I'm not starving. My house has heating AND air-conditioning. I have a car. I can purchase gasoline for that car. So many people out there would give their right arm to be in my shoes. And yet, I'm still ungrateful at times.

Won't you consider giving something to someone whose life might depend on it?

http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/pages/give-a-gift-change-a-life?open?open&campaign=1193519&cmp=KNC-1193519&gccode=animals

I want your love, I want your revenge

I could seriously write the BOOK on bad romances. First, if the guy NEVER wants to see you in person, he's a bad egg. If the guy NEVER wants to make ANY plans in advance with you, he's a bad egg. If the guy hits you or calls you names, he's a bad egg. I've had them alllllll.

At the present time, I'm not involved with anyone. That's not to say that I'm not interested in anyone. It's just not possible for me to act on that at this time. I really need to find a social life so that I can meet people that I can become involved with.

As for online dating, I've tried that too. Generally speaking, what I've discovered is that people are not all that honest on those websites. And, to be perfectly honest, some of the TV commericals that they have for those websites disgust me (I'm thinking of Zoosk here). I've only signed up on match.com and eharmony.com but that was moooorrrre than enough for me to realize that online dating is not for me.

Eharmony tried to match me with my brother. Fortunately, I have a good sense of humor and I found it rather amusing. My brother, not so much. He canceled his subscription and sent them a letter about checking their facts (we were living in the same house at the time AND we have the same last name... some sort of technology should have caught that lol). While we aren't married to each other, who's to say that that couldn't have been the case as well? Speaking of...

Have you seen ads for that dating website that promotes infidelity??? Where did the morals go??? What happened to commitment and trying everything to make it work with the person you swore to love, honor and cherish until death???? *sigh* Thinking about this makes me sad. I would NEVER cheat on someone. Never. Morally, I think that it's wrong. But, also, it's hard enough to keep up with what ONE person likes, wants and needs. I can't imagine the level of deception that is required to keep up with MORE than one persons likes, wants and needs. :|

I have a busy weekend ahead of me. On Saturday, I'm going to be participating in the Lupus Walk in Orange County in the morning. That evening, I have a bachelorette dinner to go to for an old friend. On Sunday, we are celebrating my dad's birthday with our family. I still haven't gotten him a present and I haven't got a CLUE as to what to get him. I'm taking Monday off from work as a vacation day and I'm going to Disneyland with my cousin, her daughter and my nephew. It should be an interesting experience. Cross your fingers for me, as I've never taken him out in public before by myself! I hope I don't lose him, or his parents will murder me lol. Fortunately, my cousin's daughter will be there. She's four and my cousin has another kid (who is staying with my aunt), so she's a parent of kids. She's got the mommy-watch thing down pat! :)

I'm exhausted. I need to go to the gym, but I hate the gym. Actually, I just hate exercising, in general. I've been on Jenny Craig for two weeks now, and I did lose a pound since I last weighed in two weeks ago. Now, if I could just stick to the diet and exercise a little bit, I know I would lose more weight and quick. I just don't have the motivation that I need to exercise. Sure, I want my clothes to fit better and I want to get a swimsuit that looks good on me. But those factors are not motivating me enough at this point. I think I'm just lazy.

And I'm hungry. I have food here, but I haven't eaten it yet. For some reason, a chicken pocket and fish and chips did not sound appealing at breakfast. And I cheated and had fried mac & cheese from Del Taco for lunch. Look, see? I just said that I need to stick to my diet and I'll lose weight, but what did I do for lunch? Freaking Del Taco. Bad form, bad form....

End of the day, again... I'm out. :)

What a difference a year makes...

Only, kinda not. Haha. Nothing has really changed in my life, but I really DO want to keep up with this blog more. I don't want to put my deep, dark secrets here, but I'd like to document my life more. Maybe I need to find a social life first??

Time will tell... for now, I need to go to bed. I have an appointment at Jenny Craig in the morning to be weighed! I'm fairly certain that I didn't lose any weight in the past week, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. :)

Yay long weekends!!!

I should really be more faithful about updating this blog, but I tend to just get sooo busy with work and life that I forget that it even exists most of the time! LOL.

Angela is coming to town this weekend to collect her dog from her ex-husband. Apparently, the deal when they split up was that she would get Evie after Katie (their other dog) passed away. Katie passed away almost a year ago (I think) and she's just now able to come and get Evie. I'm excited to see her. The plans are to hang out on Saturday, go to an Angels game on Sunday (followed closely with SuperMex margaritas) and run errands on Monday back in south Orange county. She flies out on Wednesday, so I'm hoping that we'll get to do dinner and drinks on Tuesday, but since I have to work on Wednesday, maybe just dinner instead. ;)

Work was felt busier today than it actually was. I think it just felt busy because the holiday traffic was SOOO horrible. The 91 freeway being closed in both directions for a few hours did NOT help alleviate any ETA issues that we might have had.

I'm pretty sure that my Farmville and Treasure Isle games are calling my name. I hear them, ever so softly, in the background.. "Jen.... Jen..... Jennnn......."

Life is Good

My baby sister graduated from college this past weekend!!! As she is the first person to attend AND complete a college degree in my family, I am extremely proud of her. :) Her degree is a BA in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Social Science. What she will do with it, I'm not sure. She has wanted, since a young age, to go on a missions trip to Africa, so I'm fairly sure that she will be doing that in the very near future! She talked about working at World Vision, as well. I'm sure she'll be successful in whatever she does.

Hello, Real Life.. Nice to See You Again

I had a wonderful break from my normal life for TEN WHOLE DAYS. Yesterday, I began to get back into my normal routine. Which, oddly enough, seems to have changed a bit while I was on a break from it. LOL.

Germany was FREEZING. It snowed almost the whole time that I was there. When it wasn't snowing, it was the worst kind of cold EVER. The kind that makes you feel like the skin on your face is going to crack and fall off of your bones. I despise being cold. Literally DESPISE it. I would rather deal with triple-digit temperatures than below-freezing ones. But I had fun, regardless. I love seeing my best friend and I miss that she doesn't live righthere anymore. But I'm getting used to it now. Periodically, I catch myself looking at the clock and figuring out what time it is where she is and imagining what she's doing. :) I wonder if she does the same thing...

I'm so glad to be back. Even though I know that I probably won't see Angela again until June (at the earliest), California is still my home. I, honestly, can't imagine anywhere else feeling this much like home. Then again, nowhere else ever has been home for me. So I suppose that's a normal feeling..? Landing at LAX almost brought me to tears. I didn't miss home so much the last time I went there. I think I had a harder time this time because of my travel companion. I was sooo tired of that person by the end of the trip. The last leg of our trip home (DFW to LAX) was delayed taking off because the pilot and co-pilot had already maxed out their flying hours, so we had to wait for a new crew to get to the plane. I almost cried then, too. I'm usually not this emotional. Gah, I don't know what was wrong with me.

Now, I'm back at work. It took me all day yesterday to go through my email and fix the problems that had occurred during my absence. It was nice that there weren't very many this time around. I feel better about requesting my next vacation trip because of that. :) I have a good group of people working for me.. finally.