I caved to curiosity. The sock bun curls craze has been hitting the interwebs with links to tutorials all over Pinterest. So I finally tried it on my hair, which is one length and super fine (but there’s a lot of it).
The bun:
After:
You know you’re jealous of my fun PJs!
This isn’t meant to be a tutorial. If you want to try it, search the internet for “sock bun curls”.
Next time, I’ll be sure my hair is more evenly damp before rolling.
It’s true. Many Americans seem to think that they have to be doing something to have fun. Engaging in some form of physical activity is fun. Absolutely! The belief that if you’re not doing “fun” things a certain percentage of the time then you can’t be happy or fulfilled is rubbish, though.
Remember when Ferris called Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day off? After hanging up, Cameron moaned, “I’m dying.” The phone rang again and it was Ferris to say, “Your’re not dying. You just can’t think of anything good to do.” Here it is (custom made by my husband)…
Why do we feel like that? Why do we think that if we can’t think of something “good” to do, then we’ll be miserable and bored? Is relaxing on a day off not good?
The clip from Eat Pray Love explains it perfectly. We often confuse fun with pleasure. We don’t have to be laughing or doing some physical activity to find pleasure. I find pleasure in being lazy, even when I do get out of the house. For instance, going to the mall and just walking around or even sitting (people watching) is enjoyable to me. I don’t need to have a purpose to go to the mall – nothing in mind to buy, and no mindless spending necessary.
Sometimes I can’t help but wonder what the difference is. I can be lazy at home surfing the internet, reading, writing, or just watching TV, or I can be lazy at a state park. The surroundings are different, but the end result is the same. I get absolutely nothing accomplished.
I am guilty of the accusation in this movie clip. While I don’t feel time is wasted if I’m not having fun in the sense described in the clip, I feel it’s wasted if I’m not productive in some way. Spending an entire day watching TV is relaxing for sure, but I do feel guilty at the end of the day because I didn’t get anything accomplished.
Tangent alert… Some may see making jewelry as boring and unproductive, but that would be productive to me because there is an end result. Moreover, it exercises my creativity. The problem is that I don’t do it frequently enough to keep the creative juices flowing. I haven’t made anything since before Christmas. BEFORE CHRISTMAS! That’s a long time! It’s hard to just sit down and create something. The ideas just don’t come to me, and I sit there feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in front of me. I start an idea and scrap it over and over because it’s not unique enough. But I digress… end of tangent.
Does it make me an old fart because I no longer feel a desire to be out in a crowd cuttin’ it up to have a good time that often? If so, then I’m fine with that because I am having a good time doing more relaxing (aka: lazy) things. My brain is still active. That’s good enough for me! Pleasure.
Dolce far niente!
Watch this. No, seriously! Watch this!
Don’t be afraid to comment. If you make it through the first 15 minutes, that’s about the point where you might be able to make out someone saying “Dude!” (that would be me). Yes, I said “Dude!” during a sermon at Elevation Church.
That’s what’s kind of cool about this church (besides the fact that the tattooed pastor wears jeans and plaid shirts). You don’t have to sit there all prim & proper. They affectionately call themselves, “the church of the jacked up“.
I still have my issues with the whole faith thing, but there HAS to be something more out there – karma, cosmic energy, fate, or an omnipresent being we call God. There’s still a big part of me that thinks people need so desperately to give fate a name (God) or that they can’t accept that things happen as they are going to happen and leave it at that.
However… there are moments like Sunday that reach out and slap me in the face and make me wonder. I mean really spooky like. That sermon was going to happen whether we were there or not, and it had been planned in advance. We learned something rather sensitive about someone dear to us the day before, and that very thing was touched on in this sermon. I wasn’t even planning on attending until two hours before the service started!
Karma? Fate? Coincidence? Or did this supernatural entity we call God put us there to hear this?
I know exactly why I can’t just let go and believe by faith alone that God exists. I don’t like to be vulnerable. I like to be in control. I don’t want anyone to see me get caught up in something that isn’t grounded – that isn’t hard fact – that doesn’t let ME drive the bus! Honestly, I’m a little jealous of those who are comfortable lifting their hands in worship. This may sound wacky, but to do so exposes armpits, and I am extremely ticklish! To do so exposes more than that, though. It exposes my soul. I’m not comfortable with that.
I would rather suffer through an hour of crunches every day and cut out refined sugars and saturated fat than wear anything resembling Spanx® all day long! I quite enjoy comfort and the ability to breathe freely! Do women realize what all they are smooshing around inside? “Spanx Syndrome” anyone?. 
NOTE: Photo – not Spanx brand and not me!
Lookie what Greg made for my desk! I already had my laptop on a riser, but my second monitor was placed on top of an inverted Steralite storage box. I still wanted it a couple inches higher because my neck was still protesting a bit. So I asked if this was possible, and he did it! Now I don’t have to reach around my drink to get to my phone either. When I need more desk space, I just push my keyboard under the shelf. And that Steralite storage box is now being used for … wait for it … STORAGE! 
That little bear has been on my desk since right after I started. It represents the company mascot. 
Pink ribbons. Race for the cure. Breast cancer gets so much attention. That’s great! However, other cancers are pushed to the back of the bus – like childhood cancers. Watch this video. Share this video! Make this a VIRAL VIDEO! If Kony 2012 can do it, so can we!
You may think childhood cancers get plenty of awareness through St. Jude’s, but the funds they raise directly are distributed for research for other catastrophic childhood illnesses as well as cancer. Invisible children can be found in more places than just Uganda. Cancer continues to kill so many children because of inadequate funding to support adequate and timely research.
There are so many things that deserve more awareness – deserve to go viral. Lung cancer is another! Kudos to those with the enthusiasm to take up a cause and run with it far enough to get that much attention (good or bad).
This wasn’t meant to be a thoroughly researched post. It’s simply something that came to my mind and I let spill onto a post. It’s not meant to cause a debate, and I’m not diminishing the importance of any one cause in favor of another. Equal awareness opportunity to everyone!
Watch it. Share it.
Learn more about it here, where you can also sign the pledge (show support) and get the kit (I won’t be doing that). Because I’m trained to listen to all sides of any story for my job, I also want to bring another article to your attention: Taking ‘Kony 2012′ Down A Notch. I don’t need to hear Kony’s side. This article does bring up some good points. Why does the documentary not focus more on words directly from the “invisible children”? What happens after they capture Joseph Kony? What about the rest of the LRA? Things to ponder.
He moved the first time in October. There were tears. He moved the second time early January. No tears that time because I knew he’d be flying up on his days off. His girl was still here until they had enough money for the big move. That day finally came. They’re both moving nearly 400 miles away. I got this! He already broke me in.
Yesterday I realized that he was spending his last official night in Colorado as a resident on the same night as he spent his first official night in Colorado when we moved here as a family. February 27. Everything was packed in the truck except pillows, a blanket, and morning necessities (they slept on the floor at the apartment), and Jason requested Panda Express because they don’t have any in Farmington, NM. So Panda was waiting for them when they finally made it over after 9:00 PM. I was tired, which explains the robe.
They still had to bring over the second apartment key and the mailbox key in the morning for Josh, who’s taking over the lease on the apartment. So in the back of my mind, I knew that wasn’t the final goodbye for probably three or four months. I only had a little trouble falling asleep. However… I woke up to the sound of the wind still gusting and immediately worried about the drive with that big moving truck in the wind. Then it all hit me. I don’t “got this”! 
Waterworks!
I pulled it together, got dressed, drank some coffee, watched some 19 Kids & Counting (I can’t help myself), and waited. I was fine. They were here for a few minutes, gave Josh the keys, and then it happened. Kennah came in for the first hug, and I fell apart. Then I squeezed Jason, and he squeezed back, and I was a sobbing mess as they walked out the door. Then Ali hugged me. She left for school, I did some laundry, and now I’m crying again. Big, ugly, sobbing, sniffling cry face!
But… I know it’s time. First birdie to leave the nest. Second birdie on his way right behind him.
Ya know? Nobody ever told me about this part! I was never one to cry over little things. Okay, I cried a little when the boys started Kindergarten. Oh, and I freaked out when Jason broke his arm near his wrist. Those were short-lived bouts of tears, though. THIS is the hardest part of parenting in my opinion. Letting them go.
It may be a small book in the Bible, but it tells it like it is. Go James!
James 4
Friendship with the World
1Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn’t it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? 2You want something you don’t have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won’t get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. 3Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.
4You people aren’t faithful to God! Don’t you know that if you love the world, you are God’s enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us”? [a]6In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say,
“God opposes everyone who is proud,
but he is kind to everyone who is humble.”
7Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. 8Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can’t make up your mind. 9Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. 10Be humble in the Lord’s presence, and he will honor you.
Saying Cruel Things about Others
11My friends, don’t say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God’s Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it 12or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?
Warning against Bragging
13You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” 14What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. 15You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” 16Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. 17If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.
Source: BibleGateway.com (Contemporary English Version)
It’s not easy for some to be content with what they have. The desire to keep up with friends and family can consume us. Especially when those same people continue to succeed and are able to afford to live such lifestyles … OR when they can’t really afford it but rely on credit cards making it appear to others that they can. But that’s beside the point. The point is that we think, for some selfish and covetous reason, that we need such things in order to be happy and content.
We should just be still and realize that we can be content with much less. We truly can be content with fewer and less elaborate possessions. Homes don’t need to be decorated like display homes. Yards don’t need to be adorned with beautiful gardens. While visually pleasing, that shouldn’t be what we desire as a means of happiness and self-fulfillment. To live life believing that having such things proves your worthiness of living among a certain “class” of society is a such a falsehood. If that’s what it takes, then I’m not so sure I would want to live among that class.
In search of the humble and content class!
There are labels for kids in high school. You can start to see the formation in elementary school, and they continue to take shape in middle school. Definitely, by high school, they are usually pretty clear.
I still don’t know what label I wore. I think (and others will probably have different opinions) I was pretty generic. I didn’t hang out with any one type of person. While I wasn’t close friends with people in any specific clique, I did get along with all types of people – still do.
The character, Brian Johnson, from The Breakfast Club said it best:
Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. 60062.Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong…and what we did was wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us… in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at seven o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed.
(That date was my 17th birthday, by the way!)
As we get older, we don’t so much use the labels we used in high school. However, the labels are still there. We see one another in terms of “types”. We are working parents, stay-at-home parents, executives, multitaskers/over-achievers, even hermits. Deep down, we’re still brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses, and criminals. Some of us learn to coexist and get along. Some still can’t (won’t?) associate with anyone other than the same “type” as themselves under any circumstances. I’m still the one who will associate with any “type”. I’m sort of a chameleon that way.
What type are you? What type were you in high school?
