Right before I left work today, my supervisor came to me and said, "Your name came up at a meeting today." Well, that's either good or bad, right? In my case, it was good! I just got picked to handle a major project - everyone is supposed to be updating the help messages in our computer programs, but it's time to update them for the upgrade that just went out. And I have to organize that somehow! I'm excited and ideas are already starting to flow about how best to do that. How great, huh? :o)
I'm off to choir practice now...with a really sore throat. Needless to say, I'm probably not doing much singing tonight, but I don't want to miss!
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
musings, ponderings, wonderings
So much for a post last weekend, huh? There are SO many things I could talk about right now:
(1) the hurricane, of course
(2) my fantastic new job
(3) the random thoughts I think 1,000,000 times a day, and tell myself to blog about it (see how many times it actually makes it to the net?)
(4) a few of the many things that happened today that made me go "hmmm"
(5) this great new site I just found
(6) the behavior I hate the most that I have just discovered I do on a regular occasion
Here goes:
(1) Houston wasn't really hit, though my family was prepared to leave...we were packing the car and waiting for my sister to arrive with her crew when the first report came on Thursday saying the hurricane was shifting. My sister's area (Liberty County, near the Trinity River) got hit hard...she still without power and working with FEMA to figure out what can happen. Thank the Lord, her house is fine otherwise.
(2) My job's great! I have been working on department projects, so I feel like part of the team! But I've been working hard on training this past week, which isn't quite so much fun. But I fit in! I made a smart remark to my manager last week during a birthday cake break, and everyone commended me (including him) on my good comeback! Is it scary that my sense of humor has found a home?
(3) a list, at random: newscasts. "Rugged individualism" (doesn't this one sound like fun??? I'm pretty excited about writing about this one...it WILL come...the mind of an English major is always searching for essays to compose). Going to London (November) and Ireland (next September)! What God is doing in my life, and why the heck He cares when all I give Him at the moment is lip service (or so it seems).
(4) a.) When I was a kid, I think I was scared of public toilets. It all started during my years of private school, when the ENTIRE class was paraded to the bathroom during a break and you HAD to use the restroom. Personal experience: when I'm forced to do something, chances are I won't like it...especially when I was little. ANYWAY...I would come home from school about to wet my pants because I wouldn't go at school. But I've gotten over that now!
Today at work, I went into the ladies restroom. A toilet flushed right away, so I knew someone was in there. But the entire time I was in the bathroom, I heard no noise...no rustling of clothes, no opening of doors, footsteps, etc. This chick sat there in that stall until I left, doing absolutely nothing, not moving an inch! Isn't that a little weird? What, was she afraid I might HEAR her??? I didn't even know WHO it was!
b.) My grandmother, God bless her, *tries* to be helpful. She lets us know how we can improve our lives, if only we would follow her advice. And *some* IS helpful. And she'll do little things, like clean up something, with the expectation that she WILL be duly thanked and we will take over the task from then on. Tonight, we came home from a late dinner, and Grandma had left the vacuum right outside my bedroom door with a note "Needs emptied - has cat food and litter inside." First question: why didn't SHE empty it? All you have to do is take out the compartment, empty it and put it back! Second...what DID she do??? Come to find out, she'd vacuumed our spare room, where the cats' stuff is, and *improved* the room, to her standards. Hmmm...how thankful do I have to sound? We had to change it back because our cats are old. They HATE change and would express this hatred in ways I would rather not think about.
(5) A new kind of jigsaw puzzle. Check it out!
(6) Well, I have to leave SOMETHING for next time, don't I???
(1) the hurricane, of course
(2) my fantastic new job
(3) the random thoughts I think 1,000,000 times a day, and tell myself to blog about it (see how many times it actually makes it to the net?)
(4) a few of the many things that happened today that made me go "hmmm"
(5) this great new site I just found
(6) the behavior I hate the most that I have just discovered I do on a regular occasion
Here goes:
(1) Houston wasn't really hit, though my family was prepared to leave...we were packing the car and waiting for my sister to arrive with her crew when the first report came on Thursday saying the hurricane was shifting. My sister's area (Liberty County, near the Trinity River) got hit hard...she still without power and working with FEMA to figure out what can happen. Thank the Lord, her house is fine otherwise.
(2) My job's great! I have been working on department projects, so I feel like part of the team! But I've been working hard on training this past week, which isn't quite so much fun. But I fit in! I made a smart remark to my manager last week during a birthday cake break, and everyone commended me (including him) on my good comeback! Is it scary that my sense of humor has found a home?
(3) a list, at random: newscasts. "Rugged individualism" (doesn't this one sound like fun??? I'm pretty excited about writing about this one...it WILL come...the mind of an English major is always searching for essays to compose). Going to London (November) and Ireland (next September)! What God is doing in my life, and why the heck He cares when all I give Him at the moment is lip service (or so it seems).
(4) a.) When I was a kid, I think I was scared of public toilets. It all started during my years of private school, when the ENTIRE class was paraded to the bathroom during a break and you HAD to use the restroom. Personal experience: when I'm forced to do something, chances are I won't like it...especially when I was little. ANYWAY...I would come home from school about to wet my pants because I wouldn't go at school. But I've gotten over that now!
Today at work, I went into the ladies restroom. A toilet flushed right away, so I knew someone was in there. But the entire time I was in the bathroom, I heard no noise...no rustling of clothes, no opening of doors, footsteps, etc. This chick sat there in that stall until I left, doing absolutely nothing, not moving an inch! Isn't that a little weird? What, was she afraid I might HEAR her??? I didn't even know WHO it was!
b.) My grandmother, God bless her, *tries* to be helpful. She lets us know how we can improve our lives, if only we would follow her advice. And *some* IS helpful. And she'll do little things, like clean up something, with the expectation that she WILL be duly thanked and we will take over the task from then on. Tonight, we came home from a late dinner, and Grandma had left the vacuum right outside my bedroom door with a note "Needs emptied - has cat food and litter inside." First question: why didn't SHE empty it? All you have to do is take out the compartment, empty it and put it back! Second...what DID she do??? Come to find out, she'd vacuumed our spare room, where the cats' stuff is, and *improved* the room, to her standards. Hmmm...how thankful do I have to sound? We had to change it back because our cats are old. They HATE change and would express this hatred in ways I would rather not think about.
(5) A new kind of jigsaw puzzle. Check it out!
(6) Well, I have to leave SOMETHING for next time, don't I???
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Randomness
So I promise to set aside some time this weekend to update everyone on my job! I'm loving it, by the way. Tonight, I want to prove to myself that I don't need to write a novel every time I write a blog. So here's something that made me smile today. You know those day-of-the-year calendars (there's also a book) that have "5 things to be happy about"? One of today's items was updating your wish list. Which definitely makes me happy! So here are my latest wants:
- Canon PowerShot SD450. The new digital Canon Elph! It's basically affordable, and it's a great resolution. I want to take more pictures, which I don't want to do with my present, sucky camera (the lens won't even stay open!)
- an iPod? I haven't decided about this one, because it also means I'll spend more money on iTunes.
- a truck or SUV. Yes, I love my Saturn and yes, they guzzle gas, but I love 'em. I covet my friends' Ford F150 FX4...but THAT'S not gonna happen. I definitely don't have any reason to have a car like that...but it's still cool. My favorite of the moment is the new Honda Ridgeline (I love the in-bed trunk!), but it's a *little* beyond my budget.
- an apartment! Though I have freedom living "at home," I want a place to call my own! Where everything is mine. someplace that my blood, sweat and tears (and hard-earned cash!) gave me the ability to live.
- a need that has become a want: new glasses! I sit in front of my computer all day, and I can feel my eyes straining, getting dry and making it harder to concentrate. My dilemma: wait until my insurance kicks in next January, or shell out the moolah now?
- a small want: ice cream! I crave sweet stuff in the late afternoon and at night. It's a good thing that I don't crave it at times when I can actually get it (like on the drive home)...that way I don't indulge *too* often. My favorite right now: Cold Stone Creamery's Peanut Butter Cup Perfection, Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup or Starbucks' Mocha Java. (Baskin Robbin's Peanut Butter 'n Chocolate should be in there, too.)
Good night, all! I will write again this weekend!
- Canon PowerShot SD450. The new digital Canon Elph! It's basically affordable, and it's a great resolution. I want to take more pictures, which I don't want to do with my present, sucky camera (the lens won't even stay open!)
- an iPod? I haven't decided about this one, because it also means I'll spend more money on iTunes.
- a truck or SUV. Yes, I love my Saturn and yes, they guzzle gas, but I love 'em. I covet my friends' Ford F150 FX4...but THAT'S not gonna happen. I definitely don't have any reason to have a car like that...but it's still cool. My favorite of the moment is the new Honda Ridgeline (I love the in-bed trunk!), but it's a *little* beyond my budget.
- an apartment! Though I have freedom living "at home," I want a place to call my own! Where everything is mine. someplace that my blood, sweat and tears (and hard-earned cash!) gave me the ability to live.
- a need that has become a want: new glasses! I sit in front of my computer all day, and I can feel my eyes straining, getting dry and making it harder to concentrate. My dilemma: wait until my insurance kicks in next January, or shell out the moolah now?
- a small want: ice cream! I crave sweet stuff in the late afternoon and at night. It's a good thing that I don't crave it at times when I can actually get it (like on the drive home)...that way I don't indulge *too* often. My favorite right now: Cold Stone Creamery's Peanut Butter Cup Perfection, Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup or Starbucks' Mocha Java. (Baskin Robbin's Peanut Butter 'n Chocolate should be in there, too.)
Good night, all! I will write again this weekend!
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Helping the cause
Last night, a few friends and I went down to the Astrodome to volunteer our time during the graveyard shift. We were assigned to the Reliant Center, which is a LARGE exhibition hall next to the stadium - from one end to the other, it is a half-mile long. Over 5,000 cots (my estimate - the Houston Chronicle says 8,000) were set up, but we counted only 450 people there last night. We were expecting 45 buses from New Orleans, but they never showed up. Instead, we later heard they continued on to Dallas, including a bus of 150 "lost kids" who would be helped by CPS.
But on the Chronicle's website, it says "The Astrodome housed 15,000 evacuees Friday night, with 3,000 at Reliant Arena and 8,000 at Reliant Center, Red Cross spokeswoman Denise Bishop said." WHERE WERE THEY??? I was right there, but there were definitely not 8,000 at the Center last night. We kept waiting for this huge deluge of people that never showed up.
At 2 a.m., we started packing up sandwiches, trying to save them, since they would have to be thrown away if they were at all warm (at the beginning of the night, they were frozen, so they could potentially last at least another day). How incredibly sad! There are so many people out there hurting right now, and we couldn't get them to a place where we had beds, food and supplies for them. We heard stories of people camped outside the Astrodome, who were turned away because the Astrodome because it was packed...all they had to do was come to the Reliant Center across the complex, but they weren't told that.
There is an enormous interfaith movement happening here in Houston, with all the faith communities banding together to provide food at these large shelters for the next month. My prayer at this moment is that there will be people that we need to serve there. Not that I pray people NEED the food, but that the people who are stranded all over the Deep South will be able to come here to get refuge. From what I understand, the people of Hosuton are waiting to reach out to them - now, we just need people to help. Just like us last night - we wanted to help in some tangible way, but we didn't feel all that needed. Though I do know that some other volunteer would have been there if I had not, so they were able to use that person somewhere else because I was there.
I do know that the Astrodome IS filled. I didn't go over myself, but all the guys working with us took sandwiches over there as we started to pack up for breakfast. They were incredibly overwhelmed by what they saw - people packed in, sleeping wherever they could and grabbing for the sandwiches that they carried.
I just wish we could be helping more where they need it most - in Louisiana and Mississippi, where these people have been promised food everyday while they wait for evacuation, but they are literally starving until help arrives.
But on the Chronicle's website, it says "The Astrodome housed 15,000 evacuees Friday night, with 3,000 at Reliant Arena and 8,000 at Reliant Center, Red Cross spokeswoman Denise Bishop said." WHERE WERE THEY??? I was right there, but there were definitely not 8,000 at the Center last night. We kept waiting for this huge deluge of people that never showed up.
At 2 a.m., we started packing up sandwiches, trying to save them, since they would have to be thrown away if they were at all warm (at the beginning of the night, they were frozen, so they could potentially last at least another day). How incredibly sad! There are so many people out there hurting right now, and we couldn't get them to a place where we had beds, food and supplies for them. We heard stories of people camped outside the Astrodome, who were turned away because the Astrodome because it was packed...all they had to do was come to the Reliant Center across the complex, but they weren't told that.
There is an enormous interfaith movement happening here in Houston, with all the faith communities banding together to provide food at these large shelters for the next month. My prayer at this moment is that there will be people that we need to serve there. Not that I pray people NEED the food, but that the people who are stranded all over the Deep South will be able to come here to get refuge. From what I understand, the people of Hosuton are waiting to reach out to them - now, we just need people to help. Just like us last night - we wanted to help in some tangible way, but we didn't feel all that needed. Though I do know that some other volunteer would have been there if I had not, so they were able to use that person somewhere else because I was there.
I do know that the Astrodome IS filled. I didn't go over myself, but all the guys working with us took sandwiches over there as we started to pack up for breakfast. They were incredibly overwhelmed by what they saw - people packed in, sleeping wherever they could and grabbing for the sandwiches that they carried.
I just wish we could be helping more where they need it most - in Louisiana and Mississippi, where these people have been promised food everyday while they wait for evacuation, but they are literally starving until help arrives.
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