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Sunday, 16 August 2009

  • MWF 09

    So little time for the quiet moments in life nowadays. I arose this morning at 6am to be at rehearsal and performance for a drama at church. I rushed from there to a park where I set up to work all day at a booth for my office. The only reason I'm home now is that we were rained out. Hopefully Barry is not rained out too, as he is supposed to be golfing somewhere near Indiana.

    So the point is, I always have an excuse for not writing more in here. I want to write if only to mark the passage of events and time for myself, if not to enlighten all of you about my life news. For now, here is my overdue impression of MasterWorks this year:

    Awesome. It was surreal to be at Winona Lake and not be a part of the magic happening there. It was a sad feeling, but also liberating, because I knew I was where I should be, and also that there was no gap, no place that I needed to fill there for the festival to continue. It is a very important ministry and I want it to continue for a long time even if I cannot be around to see it. I felt like an old woman coming back for a 10 year high school reunion. The kids were so young that I was at first not sure how it would be for the few alumni that were in the program this year.

    I had nothing to worry about. The first night we hung out with the theatre people, I got to know some wise and beautiful people that were completely able to fill the shoes of "Masterwits" theatre troupe. I could see that Brandon had already made new friends for life, although that is his specialty, and Danny had grown so much in the past year that I was very proud of him. The actual play, Our Town, is not my favorite. I never really got on board with the idea of a portrait of early American life. It can be so boring if not done well.

    But this production was NOT boring. I was interested the whole way through. Each person cared about his role and the character shined through. They made you really care about the characters and laugh and cry along with them. I liked the play after this production a lot more than I ever did before. Good job guys!

    Also, I was so impressed with the programs done for inserts this year. It was by far better than anyhing I've done, and they made it look easy as well. I feel like I've left everything in good hands. I guess the controlling nature in me felt like I should be there to make sure my jobs would get done. But I have an easier time letting go now that I see how well my co-workers can pick up the slack even though their hands are full with their own jobs. MasterWorks is an amazing place only because of the amazing people using the gifts God gave them for His glory. May it continue as long as He wills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Monday, 25 May 2009

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  • Memorial day birthday

    Well, I just had a few moments to myself, so I thought I'd update a little. I just turned 29 years old, and I feel younger. I had my wonderful friends and husband here to support me, and we spent the weekend acting like college students or worse. Barry and I have befriended Megan here in town, and also Joy and Lindsey came over from Indiana. So he was surrounded, but he was very composed and seemed OK being the only guy.

    Saturday we went to Megan's apartment and lounged in the pool, then came to our apartment and made dinner together and played games. Sunday, we met another friend for church, and went to eat at Los Potrillos. Good Mexican food! Then we had the obligatory fiesta before Joy, Lindsey, Barry, Megan and I set out to conquer Bloomington via roller blades. And conquer we did. Barry calculates our total route to be over 6 miles of the city. After we were good and sweaty, we stopped for some ice cream and headed to a local playground complete with children and water games. The children were considerably vicious with their water guns. We tried our hands on the monkey bars. We took a walk around the park and examined the canadian geese and goslings, contemplating life.

    This morning, Barry and I had a devotional with Joy and Lindsey that took an indepth look at afore mentioned geese. Yes, God has a purpose for them too. Le honk.

    Oh, and also, since it was my birthday, I got tons of well wishes from beautiful people that I have been blessed to know in my life. And Barry took it upon himself to give me a complete new wardrobe of shoes, a shoedrobe.

    I feel very loved and very sore. Actually more sore from a 10 minutes of monkey bars than a few hours of roller blading. Thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday! I love you!

Friday, 13 March 2009

  • Finally something worth mentioning

    December 11: I return from Honeymoon and unpack my  life into Bloomington, IL
    December 14: Barry's first mention that I might get a job
    December 15-31: I kinda look for jobs, but am not really focused on it
    January 5: Barry is very discreet and says that I might not be so bored if I had a job
    January 9: I look at my resume and realize that I have a lot to work on
    January 10-February 22: I dedicate time each day to searching and applying online and in the newspaper
    January 28: I get my first interview--denied
    February 12: I get my second interview--not exactly denied, but vaguely passed over
    February 18: I am offered part-time work at Subway--I think hard about it, but I'm not ready to settle
    February 22: Interview that I am very confident about--denied
    February 23: Barry is less discreet
    February 24: I start devoting full time hours to finding job openings and applying
    March 4: I attend a group interview in which all my self esteem is leached
    March 4: Later that day--The company actually calls because they want a private interview
    March 8: Barry and family spend a dinner building up my confidence again and coaching me
    March 9: I walk into interview and tell them I'm the best that's ever been, and they agree
    March 10: I spend all day going from business to business to job beg. I sign up at Manpower
    March 11: Company calls back for more testing with me, say they'll let me know
    March 12: Company offers me job, and a place I cold called on Tuesday offers me another job
    March 13: Today...

    Yes. I am awesome again. I'm a bit like a man in this respect: I get my self worth from my career path. The housewife idea rings false to me. I am now the marketing person for a chiropractor's office. This is great in two ways- I'm promoting something I believe in, and I get to use my talents in performing, designing and the like. I am excited and I think this will be challenging. The other job offer was for after school tutoring, and I'm not against that either, I may try both if I can work it in. This is the third chiropractor's office I have interviewed at. Why did the first two reject me? I know I'm a good candidate for what they need, but I can only assume that I didn't "sell myself" well enough. After the pep talk from Barry's dad, I felt like a salesman instead of a confused girl in a new town. I could tell that I was more confident than in the other interviews.

    Ironically I got no job offers, even promotion work, for 3 months, then on the same day, I got two job offers. Besides that I got another call from a place that I applied for, just to verify I was still looking, and I got two offers for promotional work. It's a bit ridiculous, I can't accept all the offers. If they'd come in January, or spaced themselves out, I could have done it all. How true the idiom, "when it rains, it pours."

    Bloomington is a nice town and I'm slowly learning my way around it. It has some culture, but it could always use more. It's biggest detraction is that it's close, but just barely out of reach, of an easy commute to Chicago. meh.

    In other good news, Barry is THE MAN when it comes to business, and he's keeping us afloat. He is the best friend I could ever have. I'm gonna buy him something muy bueno with my first paycheck. :)
     

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

  • Tag, You're It!

    Rules:
    Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

    1 I have no favorite color. I love combinations of color like brown and blue, or yellow and green, or orange and turqoise. But I can't pick just one. I even love different color schemes like pastels and jeweltones.

    2 I don't own any over the counter drugs. No aspirin, tylenol or any derivatives. I refuse to keep them in my medicine cabinet because I'm so against drugs. However, I do admit to taking some everyonce in a while (like once a year) if the need arises and someone offers. I am weak, I know.

    3 I Have been a huge fan of deliberately bad movies, ie., Evil Alien Conquerors. But just today I watched a movie called 18 Fingers of Death. And I can honestly say, there were no redeeming qualities. It was honestly bad. I couldn't even MST3K it. So I guess I have limits.

    4 I hate watching all spectator sports. Especially football, but I married a man who enjoys watching it and explains the plays to me. So now, against my better judgement, I slightly enjoy watching football.

    5 I hate watching said sports because I am a doer, not a spectator. When I see someone doing something, I want to join. This is probably why I want to act. In acting, I get to participate in the lives of the characters I play. People around me think I'm very enthusiastic, but I just don't understand why anyone would watch when they could play.

    6 Right now, the three books I am reading are orthodoxy by GK Chesterton, Dubliners, by James Joyce, and Saving Your Marriage before it Starts, by Les and Leslie Parrott. The third book Barry and I are reading together, as advised by our pre-marital counselor. It's wisdom is worthwhile for any couple.

    7 I brag about clothes I buy from Goodwill and thrift stores. I hide brand names of any clothes I bought full price.

    8 I speak quite professionally face to face, but cannot stop saying “um” when I'm leaving a voicemail.

    9 I get excited about snail mail. Even bills. I hardly ever write anyone, but I love receiving letters.

    10 I have an answer to every question. I always have an opinion, and I'll back it up. It's dangerous to ask me a question. Sometimes I don't realize I'm just BS-ing. I'm trying to work on that now that I've realized it, so please don't think me untrustworthy.

    11 I've never had a strong desire to leave the country. I have visited the Bahamas and Mexico, but never overseas, and I don't really care. It's all the same to me. People are good and bad wherever I go. I don't care whether I live in Tx or Il. I do enjoy snow, though, so Tx loses out there.

    12 My brothers are the coolest people I have ever met and my most admired friends. I don't know if any girls can deserve them.

    13 I don't think flatulence is funny at all. Occasionally I laugh at people who laugh at it, but I can never laugh at it directly. It's a bodily function, not a comic routine. I don't laugh at coughs either.

    14 My favorite food is a sandwich. It's so versatile, you can do anything with it. It can be healthy or it can be dessert. I give props to the Earl.

    15 My hubby and I have made a practice out of going to the movie theater not to watch anything, but to compete in DDR. He actually beats me, but I'm catching up. It's his favorite way to “dance.”

    16 So married life is way different than I thought. For the first thing, I actually enjoy being a homemaker. I love cooking and cleaning and running errands to make Barry's life easier. It thrills me to know I can help him. I can't believe how much it satisfies me.

    17 I have my own wardrobe. I actually have a closet and a chest full of costumes and props that are not practical for everyday life. I'm just waiting for that day when someone near me says, “drats! If only we had a samurai sword and some wigs...”

    18 Because of the wardrobe I constantly battle for a balance between minimalism and pack rat. I want to get rid of everything because I don't have space for it and I want to be able to move without stress. But I also feel an obligation to keep things that are hard to find and that will help if I needed to pull together a sketch for church or something.

    19 My head loses an unreal amount of hair in a day and I somehow manage not to be bald. I know people say that, but I think mine is more severe. Barry thinks my hairs are trying to take over. Like they're little nano-bots just posing as red hair.

    20 I hate McDonalds. I'm not just riding on a SuperSize Me fad. I hated it way before that. I hate it so much that once it strained my relationship with Barry. He couldn't understand why I yelled “McDonalds Sucks!” at the teller in the drive thru when he was ordering there. Maybe you don't understand either.

    21 I have never had my wisdom teeth removed and I'm 28. At a dentist visit 4 years ago, they showed me the teeth growing in and poking up through the gums, and they were astounded that it didn't hurt. So apparently, my mouth is big enough. Go figure.

    22 I love karaoke. I have now karaoked “Ice Ice Baby” twice for an enthusiastic public. I have also forced good friends to karaoke with me to prove their loyalty. Beware. My favorite neighbors live below our apartment and sing karaoke quite loud on a regular basis. They're awful, and I love it.

    23 The only TV show I have ever deigned to own is Third Rock from the Sun, of course.

    24 Nano-bots taking over the world is the funniest thing I have ever heard. I laugh every time. Hehe.

    25 This is the most time I have taken to write a blog in too, too long a time. I am a slacker.