All Hallows Eve

So in lieu of Halloween, my lovely cousin decides to send me this forward of pictures of some people in their Halloween togs. Classy. REEEEAlly classy.


I suppose Wonder Woman really wasn't a "wonder" after all.





Now, can we puleeeaze just KICK Elvis out of the building already?
















And I'm not even gonna comment on this one.




I hope all had a safe one tonight. :)

O The Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus

One of my favorite hymns. Pretty much says it all. How these hymn writers pen down their expressions of God's love simply astounds me.

O The Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus
text: Samuel Trevor Francis

1. O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless free
Rolling as a mighty ocean,
In its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward,
To thy glorious rest above

2. O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread his praise from shore to shore
How he loveth ever loveth,
Changeth never, never more
How he watches o’er his loved ones,
Died to call them all his own
How for them he intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne

3. O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Love of every love the best
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
’Tis a haven sweet of rest
O the deep, deep love of Jesus
’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me
And it lifts me up to glory
For it lifts me up to thee

And I Should Learn.......

You Should Learn French

C'est super! You appreciate the finer things in life... wine, art, cheese, love affairs. You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up...

What Language Should You Learn?

The Neverending Day

If I were to describe the events that have transpired over these last few weeks, I would probably have to resort to using bad language. Really bad language. Since I'd like for this blog to remain pure in the language that I choose to use (yeah right!) and to prevent the fundies reading this blog from having a heart attack, I will try to refrain from actually cussing out loud. Well, I suppose it wouldn't really be out loud because then, no one would hear me. But I supposed you readers get my point. Today was probably one of the $@#7iest day I've had in months. Actually, it started last night and carried over into today.

I won't go into any great detail about what happened last night, but I will say one thing: MEN SUCK. I'll probably get over this in a few days, however, I think I will be needing to nurse my wounds right now. Give me a few days and I think my frustration with guys will rescind.

So this morning before heading out to work, I stopped at the Wachovia ATM machine nearby my place. This particular bank does not have a parking lot, just street parking and so of course, there wasn't any parking out front and so I ended up parking on the corner of the crosswalk. I wasn't even gone for two minutes. So what did I discover when I returned to my car? (Which, by the way, I had my e-lights turned on) A stupid cop writing me a stupid ticket for parking illegally. Now granted, I should have waited until someone left the bank and moved their car but I was running late. I wasn't even two minutes at the ATM machine! After much pleading, which pathetically turned into groveling, the cop did not budge. But do you know what he said??? "I'm giving you the cheaper fine". Gee Mr. Policeman.......I should be oh so grateful. Now, $35.00 later.........

Of course, I ended up driving to work bawling my eyes out. But wait, it gets even better!

So I arrived at the office, ready to finish off some reports, when I get a phone call from a foster parent freaking out on me and essentially telling me that I'm crap and blaming me for the behaviors that her foster child is displaying. Then a few minutes later, our receptionist pages me and informs me that same foster child's birth mother was calling me. I knew this was going to mirror the same conversation that I had with the foster mother and so do you know what I did? I ignored the phone call and let it go to my voice mail. I honestly did not think that I could have taken another client telling me that I was crap. Oh the joys of working in child welfare.

I left the office a few hours early and went home in hopes that I could catch a couple of zzzzz's before heading out to feed the homeless in Philly. But of course, I needed to have a run in with my roommate. Over ice-cream. Talk about being petty. Dear love her..... my roommate had to be the brunt of tension and stress I was feeling all day. I did, however, end up apologizing to her for acting like such a monster towards her. It's nothing short of amazing that she is still talking to me and still considers me one of her best friends.

Although today was crummy, it did end up on a somewhat positive note. Earlier this evening I went to volunteer with the group from my church that feeds the homeless every Friday night in Philly. And you know, it really put things into some kind of perspective for me. Considering that there are people out there who are dealing with homelessness, poverty, mental illnesses, and racism (to name a few....) my life really isn't so bad. God has blessed me with a family who loves me, wonderful roommates who are like my sisters, a great job, a roof over my head, and of course, His Grace. What more could I ask for? Well, maybe there are one or two things that I could ask of Him, but I'm sure that you get my point. I do need to be grateful for this life that God has given me because it could honestly be a lot worse.

I ended my evening with one of my roommates, 10 hot and honey buffalo wings, a Michelob Ultra, and Batman Begins on DVD. Not so bad for a day that started out so crummy, huh?

Chocolate

Presently I'm kind of in a mood tonight. In fact, I was in a mood all day, therefore I kind of gorged on chocolate throughout the day. Of course I paid for it later on this afternooon at work when I crashed from the sugar and caffeine that I ingested throughout the day. Can we say gluttonous at its best? What is it about women and chocolate? Everytime something goes bad or when we're stressed out, we females have this insatiable draw towards chocolate. I know at least for me there is. Reasons for excessive chocolate glutt:

• Bad hair day
• Auntie Flo from the Red Sea is in town for her monthly visit
• Discovery of a zit
  
• Bad date
• Boredom
• One can actually GET chocolate
  
• Anticipating "Dear Jane" letter/email/phone call
• Discovering that jeans are too tight
• Stress
• Being the only "singleton" amongst the "marrieds"
  

I could probably go on and on with this list but I think the point has been clearly made. Is there not another remedy which women could turn to without having to purchase a new wardrobe in view of the fact that we can devour a pound of chocolate in less than five minutes? Anything?

Tired.

What an unbelievably exhausting week! My aunt and uncle, from San Diego, are in town visiting. Actually my uncle is attending a conference for work in Atlantic City, however they flew out a few days earlier so they could spend some time with me and do some sight-seeing out here in the East Coast. They flew in on Friday and we spent this past weekend in NYC. Of course, I played the ever endearing tourist guide for them. Can I just say that this particular visit to NYC was probably one of the most fun I've had at the Big Apple? Now mind you, I've spent many weekends in NYC since it's only about an hour and a half away, however this one trip with my aunt and uncle was especially enjoyable. My cousin who lives in LA was also in NYC for the weekend and so I ended up hanging out with her literally all night on Saturday.......into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Hey, what can I say? NYC is the city that never sleeps! The trip was exhausting, but enjoyable. My aunt and uncle are a hoot and so much fun to hang out with. My aunt is my mom's youngest sister and she is more like an older sister to me than an aunt - she's my favorite one out all my mom's other siblings. My aunt's husband is a perfect fit for her and is pretty hilarious. There was so much laughter over the weekend and I think that is the reason why it was so enjoyable. Oh, by the way.......did I mention that I didn't fork over any money during the entire trip? They were seriously insistent on paying for everything this weekend - hotel, food, and subway tickets. Crazy huh? Yup......I was seriously spoiled.

Date

So I went on a first date tonight with this guy in Princeton. He's got potential and I can see myself really liking him. Scary.

Sunday, Sunday

So I am once again sitting in front of my laptop half-dressed however the difference is that I'm not getting ready work, rather I'm getting ready for church. Therefore this will have to be short seeing that I have about oh, 15 minutes before I need to leave. Story of my life.

Last night I went to see Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman in concert, however we only saw Chris Tomlin and his Passion band perform. We missed Matt Redman entirley since we were about oh, almost an hour and a half late. We got lost on our way out to the concert. It was absolutely miserable. The weather was horrible with the rain pelting down like there was no tomorrow. By the time we arrived at the concert I really wanted to kill someone. Nice attitude to have going to worship concert huh? Nonetheless I felt pretty convicted last night with my attitude soon after I arrived at the concert. Chris Tomlin and his band were great, it was my first "Christian" concert in about 5 years. The last one I went to was somewhere in hicksville PA to see Caedman's call. Now that was one quality concert!

Alright, I better get going here and finish getting ready for church. Happy Sunday!

Misery, Intoxication, and Cars

What a wretched day in the east coast! It started raining last night and it continues to rain. But what is making it absolutely miserable is the humidity. The temperature over these last two days have been in the mid to upper 70's, however it's also been quite humid. It's already October for crying out loud! I want the nice, crisp, cool air to permeate through the city! When will this misery end???

On a lighter note.......It's the weekend and of course I always welcome the weekend. :) Had a friend over for dinner last night and we had a nice girly moment as we rummaged through my room for shoes, shawls and jewelry that she could use to accessorize the dress she plans to wear for her sister's wedding next week. I had a few glasses of Robert Mondavi Pinot Grigio and so I was feeling pretty "happy" last night. I have this tendency to become my roommates' source of entertainment even when I get a little inebriated. Why? I don't know. What? Did y'all think I would actually admit what I'm like even with a small amount of alcohol?

Oh, before I forget, I need to give an update on my vehicle and the whole radiator debacle. So yesterday I decided to take my car to a different garage in Jersey. The first garage I took my car to was in Philly which is located about two blocks away from my office. The Philly garage I've used to get my oil changes and the like. The Jersey garage I've also used a couple times as well. Nevertheless, the Philly garage was the one that quoted me the $525.00 to get my radiator replaced. So yesterday I decided to take my car to the garage in Jersey and do you know what the mechanic quoted me? About $350.00 plus tax!!! Now that's almost $200.00 less than what the Philly garage quoted me! Talk about highway robbery!!! Since I've gone to the Jersey garage before and know of others who go there, I knew that I could trust this mechanic. Therefore I decided to fork over the $$$, with a little help with my dear, generous brother (thanks L!) and had this garage replace the radiator. Now my stress levels have decreased enormously and I can resume with what I like to call my relatively normal life. :)

Alright, I better get going and sign off before today flies by. I need to continue working on the quilt that I plan to give my mom for Christmas. Yes......I'm having a granny moment here. Sue me.

Yay!

I think I've become a certifiable blogger now that a Tag Board is included as part of my blog. Does that mean I've become a blog whore like the rest of the web junkies around the world? Have I conformed to the ways of fellow bloggers? Perish the thought! Actually, it only took me ONLY about an hour to figure out how to add the Tag Board into my template. Thanks to a forum buddy, insaneinthebrain - here's looking at you kid ;) - I would have been tearing out my hair by now. He so kindly gave me instructions on where to place the code. Now, all I need to figure out is how to add links to my favorite blog sites - sad huh? There is definitely something about examining other individual's lives, their thoughts, feelings, and views on life. It's just like our culture's fixation on reality TV shows. We are definitely living in a voyeuristic society which takes immense pleasure in peering into other people's lives. Scary. Really scary.

Shortie

There have been some new developments with what I'd like to call my non-existent love life. Although, come to think of it, at this moment it's actually starting to exist. However, I do not want to make a big issue out of it because I honestly don't know where it will go. If it does go somewhere, the matter at hand will most likely make its way in here. ;)

I'm sitting here half-dressed, getting ready for work and so I'm thinking that I better get going and post some more later on tonight.

Tuesday Blues

So I really need to get on the ball with this blogging thing. I seem to have this habit of taking month long vacations from posting. No wonder why I don't have an audience!

Since it's quite late out here in the East Coast, this entry will have to be short. Today was a stressful day and unforunately it was not work related. *GASP* Now that's a new occurrence for me, since STRESS is what defined my summer. Nope, not work. Definitely not work stress. The stress is, oh, about $525.00 worth.......to get my radiator replaced in my car. Have I shared how much I hate being a grown up right now? As I'm posting this I can feel my anxiety levels start to increase, so I think I better sign off right here.

As my dad would articulate "And this too, shall pass....." I really hope it does.