How Good Is This?

August 26, 2008 at 6:31 pm (Uncategorized)

I had a job once. It seems like it was many years ago, although it’s only been a year and half since I quit working. I was working as a paraprofessional (aka teacher’s assistant) at the local elementary school. I worked primarily with special needs kids, and I enjoyed the job. During that time of working, I had a thought one day that I could run the media center at the school as well as anyone. This thought developed into a career decision. I decided I wanted to go back to school to get a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science. So, I enrolled at Valdosta State University, and am taking part in their online degree program. I’ve enjoyed it so far.

This decision resulted in me not going back to work at the school. I thought I wouldn’t have enough time to devote to my studies, that having a job and being in school would distract me from both. I had proven this theory earlier in my college life. When I tried to work and go to school, I found that one or the other took up the majority of my effort. It’s hard for me to balance the two things, being ADD and easily distractable. Either work or school had to be eliminated, I chose work.

So, what does a person do when they haven’t got a job, and their schooling doesn’t require quite as much time as they thought it would? How does one occupy oneself day in and day out? I’ll tell you. First, they devote at least a day or two (or more) to useful endeavors. In my case, I started volunteering at a couple of libraries in town. This has the useful aspect of getting me out of my house, and providing me with good work experience. Second, the person learns how to clean house. One spends an endless amount of time vacuuming, sweeping, scrubbing, dusting, mopping, and washing clothes. This is useful in that it’s healthy to live in a clean house, and, even if one is not paid for this labor, at least it gives one something to do. There is also yard work for the more ambitious among us. Third (this is my favorite step), the person spends time getting to know their television set very, very well. Now, most people who know me know that I can watch the same movies dozens of times and be perfectly content. Is it a bad thing to be able to quote an entire movie word for word? I think not, I think it sharpens my memory skills. (No comments from the peanut gallery!)

Imagine my surprise when I began to tire of watching the same movies over and over. How could this be? A movie good enough to watch once is surely good enough to watch 50 times. Alas, that is true only if you space out those 50 times. I was faced with a dilema. By virtue of not having a job, I couldn’t go out and by more movies, and our rental store is not exactly the best. What to do? It didn’t take me long to think of a plan. I knew my grandparents were using Netflix, so I decided to try it out. I bless the people who thought of Netflix, I get four movies (or tv series) at a time and can keep them as long as I want. I don’t have to pay for every movie and I don’t have late fees. It’s the perfect system. I no longer have to be bored with my movie selection. I can refresh it occasionally. Netflix is helping me keep my sanity. This may make me a geek, but I was born one so that’s ok. I love Netflix and I think you all should try it,

Readers, remember to get out of the house every once in awhile. Go to your local library, the grocery store, or the park. Enjoy the outdoors. Also, get a treadmill. Nothing better than mixing exercise and television!

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Color Me In

August 22, 2008 at 11:35 pm (Life of me, Uncategorized)
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Over a year ago I noticed that something was invading my body. Invading, you say. That sounds serious. What was invading my body? Germs? Worms? People? No, it was none of those things.

My body was being invaded by gray hairs. Shocking I know, especially for someone of such astonishing beauty and perfection as me. I am not to blame for this invasion though, early graying runs in my family. My gene pool is to blame for the lightening of my beautiful brown locks.

I could not, of course, allow this invasion to go unfought. I have long cherished my role as a brunette. I am convinced that my dark hair keeps my brain cells inside my head (no offense to my blonde readers). If I let the gray win, I would surely lose some of my great smarts (for I am a genius). I had to draw up a plan of attack.

I started by plucking out as many gray hairs as I could see. I do believe I can vouch for the opinion that plucking only causes more hairs to grow in. So that wasn’t working, on to the next step. I had never colored or highlighted my hair before. I always liked it as it was, and thought that coloring it would damage it. However, it was getting close to my brother’s wedding, and I was to be a bridesmaid. A bridesmaid must look her best right? So I gave in and told my hair dresser she could do whatever she thought would look good.

Apparently the results were a success. More than one person at my brother’s wedding (including family members, though I won’t say which ones) commented on how pretty and grown up I looked. Imagine the confidence boost I received by being told that, at 28, I looked grown up. I should have known that all I had to do to be a grown up was to change my hair color. How unfortunate that I failed to discover that fact earlier in life.

I have since regularly gotten my hair colored. I wonder how grown up I am now….

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And Today’s Word Is: Frustration

August 15, 2008 at 10:25 pm (Visa me?)
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I have certainly become familiar with the feeling of frustration in recent weeks. More familiar than I ever wanted to be, that’s for sure. In my last post, I wrote about my boyfriend, Murray. Never fear, he’s not the source of my frustration (yet). The source of my frustration is the UK government.

Big surprise that government can make a person frustrated right? I know I’m not the first person, and certainly won’t be the last, to be frustrated by government run-around. It’s a time honored tradition for the government of every country to be impossibly complicated and defy straightforward logic. We simple citizens are surrounded by miles and miles of Red Tape. Allow me to explain (if I can).

I may have mentioned in my last post that I’m looking for a way to get back to Scotland. Last month I had the brilliant idea of getting a work visa and moving to Scotland for about 6-12 months. Should be an easy thing right? I get a visa, go to Scotland, find a job and a place to live, and enjoy having a normal relationship with Murray. In the process, I get my circle of friends back, learn to live away from home, become less dependent on my parents, and grow and develop a stronger since of myself and my abilities. A simple process if I’ve ever seen one.

Some of you are already laughing at my naive thoughts. I can hear you saying, “The government? Easy? Get real!” I am real now. It turns out that there are two basic kinds of visas. A work visa, and a student visa. To get a work visa, I need a job waiting for me in the UK. Someone tell me how I am supposed to get that job from 4,000 miles away. In addition to that little snag, there are several subcategories for work visas. I appear to fit into none of them. I’m not a migrant worker, I’m not a caregiver, I’m not part of a religious group, nor have I been invited to participate in a sports group. I’m just a simple girl who wants a job to get by on for awhile. Apparently I am the only person who has ever wanted that. I am an anomaly. Curse me for wanting something simple from a government program.

Getting a student visa also appears to be too complicated for words. I can’t have a full time job, nor depend on any public funds. I would have to support myself entirely. How does one do that without a job? I found a program offering something called a Blue Card that seemed promising. They would help me find a job and go to school. A good deal, right? Wrong. I’m not eligible because the program of study I’m currently a part of is an online program. According to the Blue Card people, online classes seldom count toward eligibility. Blast these impossibly complicated programs!!

So here I am, mired in frustration, fighting back tears as I try to figure out why nothing run by the government can be straightforward. I apologize to my friends and family (particularly Murray) who have had to deal with a rather unpleasant Brave Gal in their midst of late. I know inside my heart that this is the right thing for me to do, I know that I need this. I need to go to Scotland and experience a new and different life. For reasons I can’t understand, I’m being blocked at every turn. I’ve prayed and I haven’t felt God saying that this isn’t a good plan. Am I ignoring His signs, or am I missing the signs pointing the way? Am I too wrapped up in myself? Are my motivations not as pure as I like to think? Is there something wrong with this plan, something I can’t see because I’ve blinded myself to all the negatives? What on earth can I do to fix this, and push past the red tape out into an actual plan? I just don’t know what else to do.

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Acceptable Change

August 7, 2008 at 12:49 am (Life of me)
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My life has encountered numerous changes over the past two years. In the summer of 2006 my church hosted a group of 19 Scottish people who came on a mission trip. They taught soccer clinics and led worship for us on several nights and Sunday mornings. I really bonded with the mission team members, becoming close friends with several of them. It ignited in me a desire to travel somewhere different and experience being around a different set of people.

In December of ‘06, I acted on that desire by visiting Scotland for two weeks. My best friend Erin went over with me, and we had a wonderful time. I fell in love with the country of Scotland, and was loath to leave when the two weeks were over. At the time, I wondered why I couldn’t simply move there, and carve out a place for myself among my friends who had become like family. I went home in tears, wondering when I would next see my friends.

Shortly after I returned home, a friend of mine over there named Colin introduced me to another friend of his using MSN instant messenger. This friend’s name was Murray. Murray and I struck up an immediate friendship, talking for hours nearly everyday. I encouraged honesty between us and we became very close just through typing and sharing our lives. This went on for a year and a half. Sometime in that year and a half, I lost control of my heart (not unusual for me), and began to like Murray as more than a friend. It took him longer to come to feel the same for me, a wise thing on his behalf I believe. When my church finalized the details of our own mission trip to Scotland, Murray and I agreed to meet up with each other and have a “date” of sorts.

I arrived in Scotland on June 9th of this year feeling excited, nervous, and full of butterflies. I finally got up the courage to call Murray that day and we arranged a time and day to meet. I’d seen pictures of him, but I will always remember that first time I saw him in person. He was walking toward me in a hoodie with dinosaur teeth and eyes (no, I’m not lying). When he saw me, he grinned self-consciously and walked over to us (Erin was with me). I felt a leap of happiness and nerves when I met his eyes. We spent that afternoon walking around the East Kilbride mall, talking and dealing with Close Encounters of the Georgia Kind. Murray dealt with the interest and teasing from my fellow church members well.

I won’t tell the details of those two weeks here, they are too private, and would take too long. By the end of those two perfect weeks, I had a boyfriend who had spoken those cherished words, “I love you.” I’m pretty sure I was able to say them back, I may have been overcome by shock. Here I was 29, and thinking I’d never hear those words. But I did hear them, and I still do. Leaving Murray was the hardest thing I have ever done. We were both crying, and if Erin hadn’t been there to lead me away, I don’t think I would have left him.

Almost two months later, I am in the midst of planning to get a work visa and spend six months or so over in Scotland. I know that’s a very big step, but I am anxious to get back to my friends, experience life away from home, take my life into my own hands, have a change of scenery, and, of course, get back to Murray. Getting a visa is not proving an easy process, the websites are confusing, and the process does not appear to be straightforward at all. The stubbornness in me will not allow my frustrations to keep me from my goal. I regret to say that Murray has taking the brunt of my frustration and annoyance with this process that he has no control over. He has been amazingly patient with me, encouraging me to keep working at it, and providing me with a steadiness that has kept my balance. He is most definitely an acceptable change.

All these words that I have written above boil down to this: I love you Murray, with every piece of my heart.

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Magic My Mower

August 2, 2008 at 11:27 pm (Random Thingys)
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Today I discovered the joys of mowing the grass with a riding lawn mower. Some may think me crazy, but it is tons of fun to drive around the yard attacking grass and weeds. The only thing missing is wings. I quite like an activity that I can do but don’t really have to concentrate on. My mind is free to wander where it will. I did learn two things specific to mowing though: (1) do not stick your tongue out in the cloud of bug spray you’ve just put on prior to mowing; and (2) one should keep one’s mouth closed when mowing. Bugs and grass bits don’t taste very good. So train up yourselves and your children to experience the joys of mowing. Just make sure you’re riding, not pushing. On a side note, is there anyone out there who can soup up a mower? I should so totally go into lawn mower racing.

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An Introduction

August 1, 2008 at 5:38 pm (Life of me)
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Well, hello everyone! I am the Brave Gal mentioned above. This is my first attempt at blogging so forgive me if it’s a little dry and boring. I have encountered a number of changes and possibilities in life of late, and I needed a place where I could more or less talk to myself, and let other people give me advice. Sounds fascinating I’m sure. I know you will all be beyond excited when you find out about the existence of my blog. That’s all for now, my house is waiting to be cleaned (and if it’s not done before Mama gets home, I’m in trouble). Never fear blog world, I’ll be back.

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