wow, i haven't been here in a while.  i live on myspace.  yes, i'm one of those.  anyway, since the beginning of the year i got a new job that i LOVE and i moved out of my apartment and i'm living with a friend in Long Beach.  if you want more info on that you can read my myspace blog or ask me!  i'm tired, so i'm going to go home and go to bed now.

A Christmas Story (that i wrote a few years ago...)

A Christmas Story

It all began on the eve of Christmas in a small town just outside of Toad
Suck, Arkansas. A precious little girl was born who was to become Miss
Sugar Plum Fairy, 2008. But in order for this to happen Santa Claus needed
to be informed before any other little girls tried to claim her title.
Immediately the message was sent out by a curious little elf by the name of
Tootsie.

Tootsie joyfully cuddled the birth announcement to his tiny chest and
bounded gleefully toward the freeway. The freeway? Elves don't belong on
the freeway! Wait!! Tootsie! It was too late. Just as Tootsie stepped
onto the freeway he was hit by a truck driven by a reindeer trainer.
Fortunately for Tootsie, he only broke both of his legs and his left pinkie
and the truck driver took good care of him. But now Tootsie couldn't deliver
the message to Santa Claus. So Burpa, the truck driver took the task upon
himself.

As coincidence would have it, Burpa was training a new reindeer for Santa
this year and it was almost time for him to be sent to the North Pole. It
was the perfect opportunity to get the birth announcement to the Big Guy.
With pride and a gentle tear in the truck driver/ reindeer trainer's eye, he
sent little Blistex on his way. Burpa had taught Blistex how to fly and
pull a sleigh, but what Burpa didn't realize is that Blistex had no sense of
direction and had an inner ear problem. Just as Blistex was approaching the
South Pole, he fell sideways in a tree and the birth announcement fluttered
down to the snow.

The announcement was promptly found by a recently thawed squirrel named
Sean. He had been so bored one day that he didn't move and because of that
he had frozen over. He was quite happy to have something to occupy his time
now that he was free again. Now how was he going to get this note to Santa
on the other side of the world? Because Sean was not very good with problem
solving, he quickly became bored, and remained perfectly still until he
froze solid once again.

Fortunately for the newborn baby (but not for Sean), the frozen squirrel
was soon involved in a frozen squirrel fight and ended up being catapulted
toward the little old lady who baked the best Christmas cookies ever. As
luck would have it, the kid who threw Sean had very bad aim so the little
old lady did not have to have frozen squirrel-related hip surgery for the
third year in a row. She grinned and took quite some time to bend over and
retrieve the wrinkled piece of paper that had chipped off of the frozen
squirrel.

Ethel knew just the recipe for getting this important document to Santa and
just in time! She quickly whipped up a batch of her famous gingerbread men
for Santa to enjoy when he got there in just a few short hours. She
strategically baked the birth announcement into the Gingerbread man's head
because she knew that Santa wouldn't have the heart to eat that part. Then
she waited...

Santa arrived just on time (lacking one lost reindeer) and joyfully sat his
bowl of jelly at Ethel's table to eat the best cookies he would have all
night. Ethel peered around the corner with anticipation as old St. Nick
picked up the most important cookie ever. With horror she watched him shove
the whole thing in his mouth and swallow without even chewing. She was
outraged! Ethel stormed into the kitchen and reprimanded Santa like he had
never been scolded before! "Do you know how much time and effort I put into
these cookies?! Do you even bother to taste them? NO! You just shove them
into your fat belly!" Ethel proceeded to beat Santa with her marble rolling
pin.

Santa did not make it to everyone's house that night because the swollen
eye and shattered shin slowed him down. But he did make an effort. Sadly,
Ethel was so overtaken with rage that she forgot to tell Santa of the
important document that he had consumed. But that didn't really matter
because once Santa was safely back in his sleigh, he remembered that he
didn't exist and instantly disappeared.

All that was left was the birth announcement fluttering to the ground of a
little girl from Arkansas who would never achieve her dreams of becoming a
Sugar Plum Fairy. But when she got old enough she realized that she didn't
really know what that was anyway, so she pursued a career in acupuncture.

Merry Christmas!
 

Monkey Business Cafe

For those of you who haven't heard about my new job, here it is.  i found a listing on craig's list for a cafe that opened up about 2 years ago and they employ boys from Hart Community Homes in Fullerton.  The cafe is a training ground for the boys before they go out into the real world and live (hopefully) successful lives.  they needed a job coach who had cafe experience (like me!) and who had experience working with kids from group homes (like me!).  the process has been long, but i finally got the job offer yesterday!  it's super exciting because i am getting paid $3 an hour MORE than they wanted to pay someone, but they are paying me for my degree and wanted to at least match the pay that i am getting currently at the gym.  i have 3 weeks left at the gym, then i only work there on saturdays.  i'll be at the cafe the rest of the week.

AND i really think it's going to work out to move out in January.  i'm going to be rooming with an old friend from way back, Michael Ford.  neither of us could really afford to live on our own, so i think this is going to be a very good thing.  please pray that we get a good apartment in a decent area for a reasonable price.  i think i found one that we both love, but if it has a high homicide stat, i think we'll move on.

ok, that's all for my life updates, but you can keep reading if you would like to hear about God and how He was so instrumental in every good thing in my life.  the thing is, life has sucked almost the entire time i've been back in California (since last April).  it's a difficult adjustment to move back in with your parents at the age of 29 after thinking you were getting married to the long-time love of your life.  there's all sorts of rejection and depression and feelings of worthlessness.  there was a good chunk of time that i didn't even try to pretend to be happy or have any hope whatsoever.

some may think that i began to find happiness after life started falling into place.  that's how it happens for most people, but that is not what happened here.  God had been challenging me to trust Him in every area of my life and the test as to whether or not you are truly trusting is the peace you have in your heart in the midst of the chaos, knowing that God has you in His hands.  so here it is, i'd been waiting for a breakthrough, something big in my life, but my attitude was all wrong.  i finally found myself resting in Him and smiling (a rarity these days) and knowing that everything was going to be ok.  i continued with my life looking much the same and suddenly God began to dump all sorts of wonderfulness in my lap.  it's almost as if He'd been holding out until i was so desperate that when it happened, i KNEW it had to be Him.  i compare it to the type of interaction i would have with my neice or nephews.  they are crying because they want a piece of candy and they are screaming and yelling and demanding candy, but i never give it to them until they stop crying and can ask politely.  i feel as if i've been kicking and screaming at God for the way my life had been going and i finally calmed down and said a polite, "please."

anyway, there have been some changes.  i'm happy, even when i'm not happy.  i don't fake it, but i try to find joy in everything, and sometimes it's harder to do.  Christmas can be a hard time for several reasons: my dad's stroke was around this time, i lost my aunt a while back and she made Christmas Eve the best day of the year for such a long time, and comparing this year to last year can be painful since it seems there are not as many people in the world who love me today as did this time last year, but i smile.  i know God has me in His hands and as i rest in Him everything will be taken care of and He always shocks us and gives us way more and way better than we had ever hoped.

on being the "other" girl

let me first preface this blog by saying that i am happy right now.  things in my life are taking new turns and i'm pretty excited about it.  i'll get more into that at another time because i want to write about my perspective during chick flicks, but i needed everyone to know that i'm doing good first so that you don't think tha i need sympathy or pity because of what i'm about to write...

i saw a movie tonight and i don't want to give anything away to people who haven't seen it yet, but dare i suggest that it's pretty predicatable anyway.  i won't mention the movie i saw, but i will try to describe the feeling i got from it by using an example from another movie that made me feel the same way. 

you know those love stories where 2 people are in love, but they are dating or married to different people and they try to overcome the obstacles and find their way to each other in the least ass-holish way possible because they do have significant others?  we watch these movies and find ourselves hoping that they find a way to each other.  i watch these movies sick to my stomach because i'm not relating to the one who is in love, i'm relating to the one who gets left at the altar.  i'm the "other" girl in those movies.  not the main character that everyone is pulling for, but the one who everyone cheers when she walks away so it leaves him free to love whomever he chooses.

13 Going on 30 is a perfect example.  there is that scene where jennifer garner finds herself begging Matty to love her on his wedding day when he is about to marry someone else.  my heart wrenches in that scene, not just because he loves her and not his bride, but because he is going to go through with it and marry her, even though she is his second choice.  so i wouldn't be the one left, but i would be the one who he felt "stuck" to for the rest of his life.

so tonight i found myself watching a love story through the eyes of the girl who had nothing wrong with her, but got left.  i think i'll stop watching chick flicks and get back into some action and gore.

Please don't forget what i said at the beginning.  i'm fine, good even!  i am happier with my life right now than i have been in quite some time.  God is doing some amazing things around here.  i just happen to relate to the chick always being left in the movies, that's all.  have a nice day.

major life changes

ok, so i went in for a 3rd interview today at the cafe i applied to working with the boys from Hart Community Homes in Fullerton and it wasn't really an interview at all.  it was me shaking the hand of the last person i needed to meet before i was officially hired.  they have not come out and said yet, "you're hired," but they gave me a menu to memorize and we have talked hours and money, etc.  i'd like to do happy backflips, but i'll refrain until i hear those words, but i know i got the job.  no one else is coming in just to shake hands with all of the supervisors.  so i'll probably start my new job in January, i'll keep you updated on that.

in other news, i might be moving out of my parents' house in January as well.  i have a friend moving to the LA area and he needs a roommate, so we're looking at places at the half-way point between LA and OC so we can both be very very far from where we need to be.    anyway, that is still in the works, but looking hopeful.

looks like 2008 is going to be a good year despite the whole age thing that is going to happen to me.  i try not to think about my ovaries drying up and i cruise through my day with a smile on my face...

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