Living the Dream
About last night…
Almonds wrecked their car, Brian went to jail, I got pulled over, and Martin needed to be rescued 50 miles away where he’d been stranded for days without food.
It. Was. A. Night.
In my world, however, it’s truly just another day. I can handle pretty much whatever the world throws at me, AND I keep a good attitude rolling through it all.
Firewalker. <——— me
Just another day in the hood. 😎
In other news, I absolutely am living the dream. I have to pinch myself everyday going into my office, where I see a handful of clients daily. It feels so surreal to passionately want something so badly and work hard in school for so many years, and then it finally pays off: I’m a therapist.
Speaking of which, I get paid in two more days: $1,300 after taxes and insurance (medical, dental, vision). I feel pretty good about my benefits too: 401K, a plush benefits package, PLUS a life insurance policy of almost $100,000 in which I don’t have to pay a penny into to set my kids up with $30,000 each- it just comes with the job automatically and every holiday AND the following day = PTO/ paid time off. I have no complaints!
My dream job- literally. Life is good!
And so is God. He’s the ultimate equalizer.
iPhone SE/Taken Today
L I F E
It’s been awhile since I’ve submitted a general update on my life. I’m so used to setting goals and achieving them, I’m almost lost without a packed-down goal sheet.
I have no complaints. Just got hired as a therapist at an addiction treatment center, my kids are thriving and all doing well in their own homes with their own jobs. I’m getting ready to receive my $2,000 sign-on bonus with my first check, so right at $3,300 to $3,500. Not too shabby. 😎
Josh and I are cohabitating, as usual. He’s my best friend. Nobody’s been there for me for so many years (almost 18!). Mom is doing well too. I go see her when I can (which is several times per week) and stay the night with her on Saturdays so I can go to Church with her on Sunday mornings, then I’ll go to my church on Sunday nights. God is so faithful with His blessings!
We’ll stay here at the mobile home for a bit longer, but soon, we’ll be able to get a nice 2 to 3 BR house and I cannot WAIT. I definitely want my own home office.
It’s 9:06 pm and 5:30 am comes early! I like to wake up early enough to have my time with the Lord (prayer/anoint myself/Word/Bible) as well as get a bit of work done before heading to the office.
Until next time. 😎
Day by Day
I move away from the madness
Storm the fort
Day by day
Taking red
Then yellow
Green and Blue
Until the great black sea
Has been swallowed up
By the rainbow
Deam Lake: 3.17.22. iPhone SE. Vintage.
Dreams of Technicolour
Artist with a camera. Better than “photographer”. IPHONE SE- no filters. 2.6.22.
Low Light Film Grain
…needs to make a comeback. Think I’m’a be the one to bring it back.
And yes, I have another raging headache. (But at least it’s not a migraine.)
Yet.
2.4.22. Iphone SE.
When Praying Isn’t Enough
Yep. I said it.
So recently, there’s been a family-type situation in which a new mom has been keeping the kid away from the new dad and it absolutely sucks. Really badly. She’s playing dirty and not even trying to hide it. She basically tossed the dad out of her life (in record time, I might add) and replaced him with a new guy. She won’t let her x have any visitation whatsoever (even axe murderers in prison get to see their kids, do they not?) and so she’s just really doing some dumb stuff right now to make him suffer. Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon, as a certain female I was raised with did the same thing to her kid. She was pretty hell-bent on destroying her x so she poisoned her kid against him. It was so evil. Accused him of molesting their kid…the whole shebang. Unfortunately, that’s not uncommon either and it really is the first thing evil moms do when they want to punish their exes so they can keep the kid all to themselves. It’s a form of Munchausen Syndrome, actually. Moms who abuse their kids so they can swoop in to save them later. It’s sick.
Anywho, back to my original rant. So this new mom is doing her (very bad) thing, and another person came in and commented on a FB post: “Really, we just need to pray for them both and show them both the love of God.”
Um….NO. Just NO.
First of all, if somebody is being an evil bastard, where does it say that we need to toss flowers at their feet and hold hands and sing Kumbayah with ’em and all of that? I don’t think so. My Bible is full of Scriptures that talk about “the evildoer” (in Proverbs) and “the wicked” and all sorts of other references for people who do evil *&^% and none of it says that we’re supposed to encourage their evil deeds by “showing them the love of God”. Nah, man.
There ARE Scriptures, however, that says something about “The Lord will show himself merciful to those who are merciful and He’ll show Himself froward to the froward” and so on. (II Sam. 22:27 and Psalm 18:26)
When I was younger and much more naive, I used to think the best course of action for virtually everything was to pray. Pray pray pray! Pray if you’re happy, pray if you’re sad. And pray especially when you have problems. But now that I’m maturing a bit, I see how that can sometimes be a copout. Don’t get me wrong, praying is wonderful. It’s lovely and necessary. But too many people will use prayer as a hopeful remedy rather than a supplemental act.
I think it’s absolutely irresponsible to tell somebody that what they need is “to pray” (only), rather than rolling up their sleeves and getting to work! It’s lazy. if we simply prayed (again, only) for every problem we have, we’ll have so many more problems as a result, because we’ll inadvertently be shoving our own responsibilities over onto God, expecting Him to do it all.
Yes, God is a big God and He can and will fulfill our needs, but He gave us hands to work with, a brain to think with, feet to run with, and mouths to speak with! He also gave us common sense to know when we need to get off of our butts and DO SOMETHING rather than telling everybody to simply “pray”.
/rant
My two week break is almost over and I’ll be hitting the books again soon. I’ve enjoyed the heck out of my little vacation. There’s almost nothing I love more than to kick back with a new adventure game and lose myself in another world. Escapism at its finest! Sheer bliss. 🙂
Until we meet again, WP. x
Lensbaby Composer/Canon Rebel/winterscape- in black and white
The Chill Zone
In the past two days, I’ve finished a 10 page/slide Powerpoint presentation (75 pts. out of 80- I’ll take it!), a Powerpoint conference poster, a final exam in Research Methods in Experimental Psychology, two chapter tests in Cross Cultural Communications and 10 forum postings. I’ve just finished up and I’m officially on vacation for a week! Josh is feeling much better today. I’ve been taking good care of him so he can return to work tomorrow. He’s sitting in his chair here in our room pivoting between playing the guitar (and singing the Blues) and his game, Gary’s Mod. I’ve just installed a new Nancy Drew adventure game and am getting ready to make a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.
I can’t believe I have seven, long, glorious days in which I can do anything I want. I’m ecstatic. Brianna’s been thinking of moving out soon. Twenty years we’ve been together! She’s my little sidekick and I’m already missing her terribly. I woke myself up last night- twice- crying. I’d had a dream of her (which I can’t remember now) and when I woke up, I had a tear rolling down my cheek and I was weeping like a child. It was the strangest thing. When I went back to sleep, it happened again. All of my kids are special and they all have their own strengths. Heidi’s strength has always been her love. She’s nurturing and warm and selfless. Brian is so funny! He’s always cracking me up. He comes across as not caring so much sometimes but really, his strength is his compassion. He’s a giver too. Brianna has a quiet strength. She’s not a touchy, feely, huggy person and she’s not overtly “warm” but she’s reliable, considerate, and real. I don’t think she’s even capable of being fake. She’s just got good sense too. They’re all incredibly smart! I’m so proud of my kids. :0) Brianna is my baby though. She’s always been here at home and so her moving out is bittersweet. It was so hard to let Heidi go initially, because I’d waited so long for her to come home. I cried for days when she moved away a handful of years ago. And when Brian moved out, it took months to adjust to his absence as well. It felt so empty here! It’s gong to be tough getting used to Brianna not being here but her guy treats her really well and is so good to her. That’s all I can ask for as a Mom- that my kids are happy in life.
I’m so glad Josh and I are still together. After all these years! He’s truly my hero. No other man has weathered so many storms with me. He’s my rock. And, I can honestly say that we’re still best friends.
SnowTree (Thanks for that, Gav. :0) Helios 44-2 film lens/natural lighting
Pretty Things
Helios film lens/44-2 + Canon Rebel
Somewhere in Indiana/Taken Christmas Day
Day Four
So this is day four of my radical crash “diet”. Hell week is halfway over and I’m feeling really good! I’m actually down 5 or 6 lbs. and I can’t believe how much stronger I feel. I’m more agile, more energetic, emotionally pumped and feel like I have a portion of my sense of humour back. I don’t feel like I’m slowly dying every day- I feel like I’m on the right track.
Day one, I was only allowed to eat fruits.
Day two- vegetables.
Day three- fruits and vegetables.
Today, Brianna, J, and I went to Outback Steakhouse and I stuck with my glass of wine and house salad. I’m not going to punish myself if I have fattening salad dressing. My common sense tells me that I’ll balance things out if I go pump out a mile at the track. So…
although it’s freezing cold outside, and pitch dark, J & I are headed out on a brandy walk. A brandy walk is pounding out a mile at the track, and then relaxing with a few shots as a reward. I do feel a bit more disciplined than I did a week ago. I have boundaries that I can’t cross, and I appreciate them.
When I get back, I have to down some Dragon’s Blood along with a hard 20 minute workout on my abs and 10 minutes on the Gazelle. Nothing is over the top- it’s all in moderation- I’m not in a race. It’s a lifestyle change, and it’s a gradual process.
But I see differences already. And I’m stoked. 🙂
Off to the trak…
Forgiven
Wow.
So my school had penalized me for dropping my two classes (College Algebra and Public Speaking) due to the car accident that I was involved in on October the 1st. Although it wasn’t my fault, they put $1,380 back onto my balance (meaning that’s what I now owe them) as well as a transcript and registration hold. Without help, I could practically kiss college goodbye.
But I’m a fighter and I simply refuse to go down like that. I wrote a compelling letter simultaneously to the Dean, the bursar, and the director of financial aid, begging them to help me, and asking them to not allow me to fall through the cracks of society and become a statistic of “what could have been”. Two days later I received a letter from my adviser stating that the balance would remain, but they lifted the registration hold, allowing me to return for the spring semester. (!) I know a handful of people who have had to drop out altogether for similar holds and situations- this is nothing short of a miracle.
So, I’ll get to return in several weeks to finish up my degree. I’m ecstatic. 🙂
I’m not crazy about math, but I’m going to give it my best shot. This will be my fourth semester of college algebra; the first three were developmental and I didn’t receive credit, so this will be somewhat gratifying.
I have three weeks to play in the snow before the madness begins!
Let it snow…
[Taken today, on my snow walk.]
m o n o c h r o m e j u n k i e † 