The Average Normality

Sometimes I read things like Jon Acuff’s recent blog post, and I have to stop myself from replying with the following:

“All my life I’ve worked towards average. Being ‘unique’ or ‘special’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

I have to stop myself from saying that because I know that he’s not talking about emotional or psychological stability. He’s not saying, “Be weird! Be strange! Be downright DEMENTED!!”

Yet, that’s what I think, almost immediately, whenever I see someone lamenting how average things are.

What they are saying isn’t “I wish that nuclear bombs would fall so I can be more traumatized than I could ever imagine.” Rather, they’re saying, “I’m bored,” or “I’m tired of being bored; how can I change that for the better.”

Today, I’m going to try and remember not to be bored.

Today, I celebrate the creativity that years and years of hardship brought me.

Today, I let my abnormality shine through, with God’s blessing.

QUESTION TO ANSWER IN COMMENTS:

What do you consider “normal”? Do you prefer “normal”, or do you want to be different? In what way do you want to stand out from the crowd?

The New Year Analyzation

As I write this, there is only an hour left in 2012.  In 60 minutes or less, 2013 will be upon us with all of its hopes and dreams.

As I look back on 2012, there are a few things I will remember.  On the negative side, there were a lot more shootings of schools and other public places.  (May God comfort the beloved of the fallen.)

On the positive, and somewhat surprising, side, I’ve not heard of any cults going all David Koresh or Hailey’s comet, which is something of a surprise to me, considering.

As for me personally, I’ll come away with some good memories:  my first missions trip in seven years, seeing an old friend for the first time in forever, and being forced to move on in my career, (whether I wanted to or not).

In the end, it was a good year.  I have a few regrets, (mostly related to lack of self-motivation) but I can’t say it’s been a bad year!

Then again, any year that Bethesda decides to put out not just one, but TWO expansions to my current favorite game (and use one of my most favorite fictional mythoses to boot!) has ‘a good year’ written all over it.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  Name three things you loved about 2012, and three that you disliked.  They can be general or personal. 

Happy Holiday Rush

 

 

I’m going to fly in the face of good advice here.  Go against the grain as it will:

I apologize for my lack of post over the past couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago to the day, we Americans celebrated Thanksgiving.  It was all turkey and family gatherings and preparing for Christmas that took hold of my brain, alongside NaNoWriMo.  (I didn’t quite make the 50k, but more on that in a future post.)

As a result, I fell off the blogging horse, so to speak.  It is only this morning that I have begun feeling up to speed again, and hope not to miss any more updates!

That being said, with Christmas holidays coming up, I may be even more sporadic than usual what with Christmas cards to make out, presents to buy, decorations to hang, and family festivities to attend!

And, somewhere in between that, lots and lots of eggnog to drink!  (Without booze, thank you very much.  🙂 )

A few weeks ago at Publix, I discovered a wondrous thing:  soy eggnog!  It’s not quite as thick as regular eggnog, but still has that wonderful taste that always reminds me of the holidays.  In an untraditional fashion, I’ve actually finished off the whole carton already, and look forward to getting some more!

Unfortunately, as I discovered last night, even soy milk can make my tummy unhappy.  I don’t know if it’s psychosomatic, but clearly I’m going to need some Lactaid if I have any hope of consuming any dairy or dairy substitutes this Holiday season!

Let’s just hope Walgreen’s has mercy on the wallets of the lactose intolerant!

QUESTION:  What is your favorite holiday food?  What holiday is it associated with?  Do you celebrate Christmas?  Hanukkah?  Kwanzaa?  Share your thoughts in the comment section!  

The Monday Mutagen

 

 

I never quite understood why a cat hated a random weekday.  As a general rule, cats don’t do much, even cartoon ones.  Garfield sits around the house, either picking on his roommates or trying to find something to eat.  He has no job to go to, no appointments to keep, no nothing else to do.  What’s more, his owner works at home, with a flexible schedule.  So why does he hate Mondays so much?

I’ll tell you why:  Because Mondays, as a general rule, have a weird sort of dark magic about them.  Especially Mondays right after a big holiday like Thanksgiving.

This morning, I ran into a few spots of that bad voodoo, though fortunately it hasn’t been anything serious….yet!!

This morning, I was preparing for the tutoring session I had at 10 AM.  I decided to go to the library and copy off the relevant pages, and be ahead of the game for once.  I left the library, and went directly to my student’s house.  But just as we were getting into the lesson, she informed me that we’d already done that one.

And so we had.

It was no big deal; a small kick in the pride, at most, but I still felt the sting.  We went on to the next lesson, sharing the student book like we usually do, with me feeling completely silly for having copied the wrong lesson.

The rest of the session went well.  I went from there back to the library, determined to get my NaNo word count up!  (If I try to write at home by myself, there’s just far too many distractions, whether the Husband is there or not.)

Ladies and gents, I had even packed my lunch so that I wouldn’t be starving while I was at the library!  I ate a little of it before going in, even, so I’d have a full tummy and NO REASON TO LEAVE.

I sat down in the chair, got out my laptop and all, unzipped the front pocket of the Netbook‘s bag…and found that I’d forgotten the power cord.

To say I was miffed is putting it lightly.

“But hey,” I thought to myself, “I’ll stay as long as I have some battery power!”

Nooooope; battery power was down to 10%, and wasn’t in it for the long haul.

I packed up my things, went back out to my car, and drove home.

Though none of this is super-dramatic, it is quite cumbersome.

All thanks to Monday’s dark sorcery.

QUESTION:  Is Monday cursed?  What do you do to cure the Monday blues?