This Can't be Normal...

Last night I got home from work and was excited to really start in on my new book.

Yes, I broke down and went to Borders and bought two new books the other day. I actually had three in my stack, but then realized that I would be spending like $60 on books! So I put one back.

Anyway I got into bed last night at 8:00 poised and ready to read. I didn't get very far. I fell asleep at like 9:00 I think. And I slept straight until 7:30am this morning. In case you are forgetting, I am not in fact an 80 year old woman. I'm 24 for goodness sake. What 24 year old goes to bed at 9:00?!

On Tuesday night I fell asleep around 10:00. I guess that is a little better. But still leaves me to wonder why I find myself falling asleep so early. Granted I didn't feel very good last night, but me falling asleep before 10:00 is actually a pretty normal occurrence.

Maybe I need to start taking vitamins? Or eat more vegetables? I did actually work out this week. But I guess working out once in 28 days isn't really saying much. At this rate by the time I am 80 I'll be falling asleep at 5pm!

I'm going to start reviewing the books I finish reading.

The one I just finished is called "In the Woods", by Tana French.

Likes: It is a suspense story that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you eagerly turning the pages. The characters are flawed and therefore seem more realistic. If you like James Patterson novels, I think you might like this one.

Dislikes: It is written by an Irish author, and takes place in Ireland so there were a lot of words that I wasn't sure if I just didn't know or if they were European words we Americans don't use. Also being that it is an Irish novel, there is a lot of cussing in it. Lastly, and probably most importantly the ending was terrible. At least in my opinion. There are 2 main mysteries, and only one of them gets solved at the end. Things like that drive me nuts. But it makes it more realistic that way.

So, I would recommend this book for people who like suspense and understand that stories don't always have a happy ending. Despite the crappy end, this book left me thinking about it days after I read it, which is always a good sign.

AS IF FROM NO WHERE!

The topic of my talk on Sunday was the blessings of following the commandments. I discussed a few different things, but one of the things I talked about was tithing. I think this is something that people who are not LDS just don't get. Even people who are LDS don't get it!

The idea of giving money to church is not new. But, I think Mormons do it a little differently. We are promised (through scriptures and prophets) that if we pay tithing we will be blessed because of it.

This concept is tough for many. It's easy to think it's harder for the poor, but I've never been rich so I don't know. I guess my opinion is biased. But, when you don't have a lot of money to begin with and you give part of that to the Lord trusting that he will bless you because of your faith it can be scary!

It's not like we are desperately poor, but with my pay cut and Jimmy's school riding on the coattails of Christmas we are definitely having to be more frugal with our spending. Things like my mistake that I spoke about in a previous post (that I still don't feel like going into detail about) definitely DO NOT help the situation.

But, we pay our tithing diligently. It can be tough (for me I think more than Jimmy because my tendencies to worry), but I understand and have experienced the importance of it.

On Sunday Jimmy was online and he checked my old pay pal account on E Bay from a few years back. Low and behold there was $71 in there! I thought I had taken it all out, but I guess not.

Then, on Tuesday I sold a really big airline ticket and got to take commission ($158 to be exact) from it.

Lastly, today my co worker said one of the hotels we work with gave her some American Express gift certificates for $100 each and she gave me one for helping her.

So, in the past 4 days $329 sprung up out of no where. It never ceases to amaze me how that works.

At my job we get a bonus depending on how much money we make for the company. The size of your bonus depends on how much you sell (the more you sell,the bigger your bonus).

You have until Dec 31st and the commission tracker starts over for the year. At the end of last year I was so close to the next bonus level. But I only had 3 days left in the year, and it was super super slow because most people were out on vacation.

I had pretty much accepted that I wouldn't get the bigger bonus. When I came in to work after New Years, I looked at my updated stats (how much money I made the company). Somehow I had made enough money to get to that next level. I don't understand where the money came from. I hadn't done anything in the past 3 days. I still don't get it.

I guess that is the thing about being blessings of paying tithing. You don't have to understand it, you just have to be grateful for it.

It's Hitting the Fan!

Joe Torre, former manager of the New York Yankees has decided to write a tell all book.

For those not baseball savvy, Joe Torre was the Manager for the Yankees for about a decade or so and led them to several world series. However was not able to lead them to one since 2000. He left the Yankees after the 2007 season and went on to manage the LA Dodgers (which is where he is currently). He did not leave the Yankees on the best of terms.

Normally, I think tell all books are crap. People trying to make a buck or two by airing everyone else's dirty laundry has never seemed like an admiral thing to do. But, I have liked Joe from the beginning. Even when he managed the Yankees (yes it pains me to say it), I liked him. I just didn't like his team. He seems like an honest and fair guy who goes with his gut and tries to do what he thinks is best.

So, his book is coming out and word is there is some pretty good stuff in there. Like jabs at Crap Rod ( aka A Rod) and slave ship running George Steinbrenner for example. I might actually consider reading this book as it doesn't appear to be a bunch of Yankee praising junk. It does go against my normal "tell all" book policy, but I think this one will be really interesting.

Everyone who watched the Yankees choke in the past 8 post seasons (well I guess that would be 7 post seasons because they didn't make it last year did they?) knows that some ugly stuff had to be going on behind the scenes. Now we get to read about it!

Speaking of reading, man I'm on a streak. I went on a reading hiatus for a while, but now I'm back with a vengeance. Thank you Twilight for igniting my passion again! I'm tearing through books left and right. A book seems to be a new permanent appendage to my hand ( much to the chagrin of my husband). I just finished my current book today, and will go on a hunt for another tonight. It is getting to be an expensive habit though. I've tried the library, but our Simi Library sucks. It never has the book I want, and if it does it only has 1 copy that is already checked out.

Anyone read a good book recently that they would recommend? I like them all, fiction, non fiction, fantasy. I hold no bias!

Victory!

Well, I made it through the weekend in 1 piece!

FRIDAY, BABYSITTING: I didn't kill the kid! It was actually a boy we sat for, not a girl (I changed the sex in case the person being surprised reads my blog). All was fine until it was time to eat. I asked him if he was ready for dinner, and he said yes. Ok, so I try to get him in his chair. He was not happy about that! He started screaming and crying so I called in the reinforcements (aka Jimmy). That man was just born to be a dad. He immediately was able to calm the kid down, and even got him to eat. He was pretty much fine the rest of the night.

Until bed time. He was better than I thought he would be, but still got a little upset when we tried to put him in his bed. He was a doll though when I changed his diaper. The diaper looked kinda funny on him, so I hope I put it on right! So we tried to get him into bed and he started crying. Jimmy to the rescue, again. He read Green Eggs and Ham to him until he calmed down, and then the kid was out like a light.

So, this experience has made me realize it sure is good I married someone who is child savvy (Otherwise Lord help my offspring!).

SUNDAY, TALK: I thought I was going to blow chunks on the stand. Seriously. I've never been that nervous before. I'm not sure what the deal was. It was my turn to speak after a musical number, and as the number starting winding down I just wanted to run and hide. My talk went ok though. Not great, but ok. I did manage to discuss everything I wanted to (usually I end up skipping stuff because I panic). However, as per usual the water works started. Curse. I really thought I was going to make it through this one with no tears.

I hate the fact that every talk I give leaves me blubbering in front of the whole congregation. My make up runs all over, and then I'm stuck looking like I got ready in the dark for the rest of the day. My favorite!

SUNDAY, LESSON: This was the best part of my weekend. I only had 2 little girls in class this Sunday. But for the first time, they actually got what I was telling them. They paid attention, and answered my questions. I even ended up running the whole class time. I think I finally understand how to communicate with kids this age in a way that they get what I'm saying. And, there was an added bonus. The following is a discussion I had with one of the little girls, Chloe:

Chloe: Guess what?

Me: What?

Chloe: I drew a picture of you in school this week, it had curly hair.

Me: You did? Why did you draw a picture of me?

Chloe: Because I like you.

Me: You know what Chole, I like you too.


Ahhh the sweet feeling of success. Finally! I just might make it through this calling after all.

Anxiety

I'm a little nervous about this weekend. I've got a couple of things going on that might be a little tricky.

First, on Friday night I'm babysitting. I'm not going to go into details yet because it's a whole surprise thing. There is a girl I know through church and she asked me to watch her child. She is about 2, and is an only child so at least there is just one.

But when she told me the reason she asked me I almost laughed at her. She is very protective of her child, and she needed someone she could trust to watch her. And, she thought of me. Oh boy. Me, who doesn't know what to do with kids. Me, who has babysat maybe twice, and not at all since I was like 12.

Granted I teach primary every Sunday now, but that is for like an hour and doesn't involve feeding or bathing or putting to bed. I wonder what on earth made her think of me. But, I agreed to help her out (not because the thought of babysitting on Friday night sounded super fun, but because I'm a pushover and hate to say no to people).

I made sure Jimmy has that night off, because I'm not going at it alone! I'm sure I'll have a great story to blog about on Monday. Hopefully after this experience Jimmy will still want to have kids with me one day. :)

Then, on Sunday Jimmy and I are speaking in our ward. Ugh. It's one of those things you just don't say no to, but just because I accept the assignment doesn't mean I want to do it.

I'm not normally a real nervous public speaker, but when it comes to church stuff I am. I just feel silly talking about something that probably 90% of the people listening could talk about better. It makes me nervous that I'll mix something up, or teach false doctrine or something. I've got my talk outlined and think it will be ok though. Hopefully.

The most frustrating part of all of this is that Jimmy I'm sure has yet to start his. He will probably write it on the way to church Sunday morning. And his will still be better than mine. It always is.

It's not fair really. He just flies by the seat of his pants and brings the congregation to tears. I study and prepare and you can hear crickets chirping in the background as everyone stares at me with their glazed over "I'm not really listening eyes". I guess in this case failing to plan really isn't planning to fail!

Beat of my Own Drum

Well, I couldn't help to notice that my blog is slightly different than any other ones I read.

Not just in layout and such, but in material matter. I can see one big reason for this. No kids. It seems that many bloggers who have children simply write about them. Understandable of course.

But it makes me wonder if me writing about how I'm feeling (no matter how dark it may be) is blogging taboo. I'm fairly new to the blogging world, but compared to what most other people write some of my entries read like an Edgar Allen Poe poem. I'm going to keep on working at staying optimistic through rough times. I'll add that to the list of New Years Resolutions (still have yet to go to the gym in 2009 by the way).

Switching gears here, one of my cube buddies lives in a senior home. Meaning for people 60 and older.

I'm telling you, that is where it's at. I can't wait to live in one of those. Every night, they play games. They play bunko, Mexican train, uno and bingo, rumikub, scrabble (the list just goes on and on). It's like a game players paradise.

I would love to come home everyday and have a bunch of people to play games with. She keeps telling me I should come play with them sometime, and I just might take her up on it.

We do have a mini version of this at my house. We play Mexican Train every night, and Robbie cannot win to save his life. Maybe it's time to expand our game collection. Anyone know of any fun games for 3 or more people? We do have quite a few other games, but I'm always on the hunt for another.

Inauguration Overload

I am happy to see that our country has come so far as to elect an African American president. It means that the way people think really can change, and that is indeed a historic event.

But something about this whole thing seems odd.

Did I miss something, or isn't it usually customary to wait until someone actually does something before we start singing their praises?

That's how it works in the normal world atleast. But in politics that doesn't seem to matter.

So Obama made a bunch of large and grand promises. Ok, doesn't every politician? Let's see what he actually does before we start calling him the savior of the country.

This has nothing to do with who I voted for (which will continue to remain unknown).

And Robbie, I completely agree with you on the money pit that is this inauguration. To be spending the kind of money something like this event must cost while the economy is crumbling seems just plain dumb.

On the radio I heard that there will be more celebrities in attendance for this inauguration than any other in history. If anything I think that is a warning sign! Celebrities don't really have a long history of making good choices...

But, I am excited to see what Obama and his staff members do. They talked the talk, now lets see if they can walk the walk. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

And I have to be honest (at risk of offending some), I'm glad to see Bush go. Bless his heart he looks like he aged 50 years since he's been in office. I guess having the weight of the country on your shoulders will do that to you. He needs to go take a long vacation and just relax for a while. I truly admire anyone that actually wants to be President.

On another note, Jimmy started school today and I'm so excited! Not really for him to be in school. But he has to wake up early 2 days a week, so that means I have someone to wake up with. It just makes getting up so much easier for me when I don't have to tip toe around in the darkness like a mouse. This morning I turned on the lights and turned on some music. I'm much more awake because of it.