Chicken Stew and rescued dogs

Tonight was very productive; I finished my homework, I made chicken stew from a recipe I found online (and it looks and smells yummy!) And I did a load of laundry so I have clean clothes for work. Now I'm watching Dante's Peak. such a good and cheesy movie. I'm not sure if I should be worried that the the most "moving" part was when they rescued the dog...haha-oh well. I'm a sucker for animal rescue stories-of any kind. That's probably why I'm addicted to the Animal Cops show on Animal Planet.

I think I want to go to the Animal Shelter tomorrow...since I only have an hour of class from 1-2, then I can go there right afterward.

Changes

Whew. Some changes need to be made in my life. I need to start being honest with myself, while at the same time opening up to others. I need to come to terms with my issues. My issues like my eating junk food and not wanting to exercise-I need to figure out WHY for these things. And things are better now that I've been on the antidepressants for awhile, but I need to talk to someone on a regular basis-Adrienne was ok to talk to, but sometimes I felt awkward when she was looking at me and waiting for me to answer.
I need to be more assertive about what I want and if I'm having problems with something or someone.
I also need to put my trust in God that he is doing what is best for me, even if it is not necessarily what I think is best for me-because God knows best. Like in terms of my future husband.
Wow, Dr. Wilson just said something that was harsh, but true. He said that women set ridiculous standards for themselves/their lives. That kinda hit home-the fact that I set such high standards for myself-wanting myself to be totally perfect. But knowing that it was impossible, so I don't even try. But what I need to realize is that I AM good enough. I just need to be happy with myself. I know it's difficult, but I need to try.

"The Wagon"

Blah, so unfortunately I've fallen WAY off the wagon in terms of my goal of losing some weight. But that's okay because I'm either going to catch up and hop back on or hop on another one!

I don't have money to follow a program such as Weight Watchers, but I'm sure I can find a good free one-or at least find some good free tips online.

Especially some tips about saving money on healthy foods-that would be easy to take with to work and class and such.

Part of me likes preparing and cooking, but another part just likes things to be easy-especially if I just come home from work and don't really want to spend more time on my feet cooking. I need to lose some weight and then I don't think my feet will hurt as much so I won't mind spending more time on them.

I have a scratchy throat and I work at 9am tomorrow so I'm going to bed early. Well, that's it for now, I hadn't updated in awhile, so I thought I would post something while I'm in bed and about to go to sleep.

Really people???

Oh joy...the people in the apartment upstairs are having sex...quite vigorously I might add, and they've been going at it for about half an hour.

So...Dad had/has pneumonia, and he was taking antibiotics, but now he has an ear infection. And mom's surgery that was supposed to be on Wednesday, is now tomorrow. I plan on calling dad's cell tomorrow afternoon-to give her enough time to be done with surgery and starting to feel more awake.

I've decided that I'm going to bring back my facebook at the end of January. I miss the pictures, and it's just quicker to get ahold of people. But I'm going to keep my "friends" in check so I'm not adding every single person I've ever known. Just people I actually talk to and am friends with.

I'm trying to think of what I want to do for my birthday. I'm trying to decide between a movie/game night, or do something like bowling.

Nothing important right now-but I was just watching Two and a Half Men and they were watching a Viking/Packer game...and Charlie had bet on the Packers; but the Vikings kicked a field goal right at the end of the episode - I just thought it was funny.

Go Vikes!

Here is a really good and interesting post from one of the blogs I'm following...I have started to feel this way-pretty strongly too. I would love to someday be a stay at home wife/mom.....


"Here are some feminist-produced double standards in our culture to think about:

How come people are extremely skeptical that a mother can teach her five children at home all at once, yet they put all faith in one teacher being able to simultaneously control and educate 30 unrelated and diverse children in the public school system? It is too much of an undertaking for that "poor" mother, yet no one questions the standard classroom size of the public school system?

How come being a nanny is a perfectly fine job for a woman, but being a mother (even though the jobs are basically the same) is not fulfilling and a waste of talent?

I thought of this a few days ago, when a young woman was telling my family how wonderful it was to get to stay home and watch her sister's children as their nanny. She talked of the peace, calm, and utter joy she had being at home with the little one, and this made me wonder why it's okay to watch children and enjoy it, as long as it isn't their own mother.

Our culture seems to project the idea that only jobs that have a paycheck are worthwhile, and that as long as you are doing work for someone other than your loved ones, it is fulfilling. There are many jobs women do in the workforce that are exactly the same as what they could do for their family, except that the women who work for strangers are seen as "fulfilled," and the women who work for loved ones are seen as "enslaved." Culture says it's better to work as a personal assistant or helper to a boss, than as a helper to your husband.

It's okay to be a nanny, a day care worker, a teacher, a maid, a chef, a seamstress, secretary, interior decorator, or flower arranger, just as long as the products or services you're providing are not going directly to your family.

This logic is utterly ridiculous! The work being done is often nearly the same, whether done at home or at a business! When feminists criticize homemaking as drudgery, or childcare as unfulfilling, I think that it's not really the work itself that is being criticized, but it is the realm we do it in. Feminists seem to have a problem with home.

Unfortunately, the general population today has been indoctrinated into believing these illogical ideas, and most people accept them without ever thinking about it. I would like to have comebacks to people's questions, and I think that when homeschooling moms are asked how they can educate so many children at once, they should point out how many children teachers are expected to take care of in the public school system. I don't think we have to give people a sermon on the ills of feminism every time a question like this pops up, but it's not a bad idea to always give them just a morsel of food for thought.

These are just some of my half/incomplete thoughts as of late. Are there any other inconsistencies that you've noticed? Please feel free to share."