How Fast Are You?

So apparently the fastest texter in the world can text "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious" in just 42 seconds, which is about 3.6 characters per second.

In my competitive spirit I decided to try it out....

60 seconds. Not too shabby. Just 18 seconds behind the world's fastest texter. (and I wasn't even trying that hard.)

How fast are you?

Creating the Madness

Whew! I am busy, busy, busy. I have a full-time, 7-3:30 job, I'm in my last semester of my master's program, I teach Sunday School, it seems that every weekend there is some event we have to attend and I'm trying really hard to exercise everyday.

Believe me, I do not think I'm the busiest person in the world. I know that lots of people have many more unchecked tasks on their to-do lists than me. Nonetheless, it seems like I can't catch a break.

I'm performing pretty well at work but I am forgetting some things (like showing up to take pictures at an event two weeks ago. my bad.) I'm doing well in school (I guess. we've only had 3 assignments due), but I can say that I'm sick and tired of it already. By the time I graduate I will have been in school for 6.5 years, and I'll only have my master's. I went straight through, I only changed majors and schools once, never failed a class and never took a semester off. You would think I would have been done sooner. I'm also really tired of the drive. I have to drive 1.5 hours each way to get to and from school. I hate driving to begin with. I wish I had a chauffer. Any takers?

And just as a side note, I'm not just tired of classes and driving, but I'm really sick of dealing with stupid universities. Example: My advisor told me that the track I was taking would have me done with classes in December and finishing up after taking comps in January. What he failed to tell me was that to be able to take comps I have to register as a one hour student, which will cost me about $300 and because I'm registered as a student in the spring semester I won't get my diploma until May. So what am I supposed to do for four months while I wait for my diploma to come in? STUPID!

Anyway, I also teach a Sunday School class at my church (seven and eight year olds). I don't mind doing it but I feel like I'm not giving it 100% because I'm so busy with other things. We're supposed to take time planning our lessons and doing all the prepared readings, but my preparation consists of throwing the lesson together on Sunday morning and cutting stuff out while I'm sitting in the pugh when I'm supposed to be concentrating on the speaker. (shout out to the Zs who sit behind me. I'm sorry, I know I'm a distraction.)

And why is it that our social life requires so much attention? Can't we just be friends and leave it at that? No, we have to go to weddings, baby showers, engagement parties, house-warming parties, Monday night football, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love to do all these things and be with friends and family, but when you're as popular as I am it's just non-stop (seriously :).

Now, for the exercising. I'm 5'4" and I weight 123 lbs. Why is this not good enough? I'm skinny but according to this chart I'm reaching the top of my weight class so I could stand to lose a few. So why then is it so hard to do? I don't eat that much....cereal for breakfast, yogurt for snack, sandwich for lunch, maybe a few cookies when I get home and then something small for dinner. And don't even tell me that it's the cookies. I only eat about four or five and it's NOT every day. I drink water ALL day and if I ever have anything different it's milk or juice in the morning or a Sprite every other week.I try to run or do the eliptical 3-4 times a week and I run a 5k every month.  What's the problem!?

Oh, how I long for a long weekend where I can take bubble baths, sleep-in and watch old movies. But then again I know that would make me feel so unproductive.

It's me....I create the madness.

Cheers!

Read here >>>> My Not Drinking Bothers Friends

Wow! I love this article. It's from a completely different point of view than my own, but I couldn't agree more.

There have been so many times when I've been around friends or family members who drink and I can feel them glaring at me. It's as if they wish I was drinking just to ease their own comfort. But why does my not drinking make them so uncomfortable? I have oftentimes wondered this. Maybe they feel like I'm judging them or maybe they think I'm uptight.

On the contrary, I'm completely comfortable being around people who drink. I've been around it almost my entire life. And while it isn't something I would prefer doing, it is something that I have accepted as part of other people's lives.

My sister, B, and I had lunch today. We were discussing people who drink versus people who do not. She said she feels like a granny around all her friends because she just isn't into drinking. I told her that society makes her feel that way and it's not right.

It's just like those old public service announcements about kids doing drugs or smoking cigarettes because they were trying to be "cool." Adults laugh at those advertisements because they think they're so corny. After all, adults are independent thinkers who make choices based on what they want to do not what others expect of them. Well, I beg to differ. Lots of adults still base their decisions on peer pressure.

After all, why do you think people drink anyways? Because it tastes delicious? No. Because it makes you feel wonderful? No. Because it doesn't cost anything? No. Because it's acceptable in society and they grew up around it and have made it a part of their lifestyle and can't imagine their life without it? Yes.

Sadly, drinking is the norm and people don't like to be different.

People ask me why I don't drink and I reply-freedom. Freedom from having to stop by the liquor store on my way home. Freedom from getting wasted and making a complete fool of myself. Freedom from having to find someone to drive me home. Freedom from being laughed at. Freedom from waking up with diarrhea and a massive headache. Freedom from wasting hours of my life doing something that I won't even remember. Freedom from something that can easily become an addiction.

I'm not judging people who drink. I love all my friends and family members who do. I just felt the need to state the reasons why I don't. So you can stop glaring now....

Why do you believe a lie?

This article is written for anyone who has a problem with a "mosque" being built near Ground Zero....

Side note: Feel free to imagine me screaming while your reading this because that's what I feel like doing.

How fitting? America--"the land of the free, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" is now persecuting fellow Americans for simply practicing their religion.

I am sick and tired of this ongoing dialogue. And I cannot believe that the media has allowed this topic to veer so far from the truth of the situation.

Those crazy Muslims are building a mosque on Ground Zero. How dare them you say. Well, you're wrong! And now I will give you four reasons why you are wrong.

Reason #1: It isn't a mosque. A mosque is a place where Muslims can go and worship their god. The proposed building is actually an Islamic center, which could include a library, swimming pool, classrooms to teach langugage and religion, etc. A center may or may not incorporate a mosque as part of its structure but it does not have to.
Reason #2: It isn't on ground zero. The proposed property is 2-3 blocks away from where the twin towers were located.
Reason #3: All Muslims aren't terrorists. And while we're discussing it, not all terrorists are Muslim. Muslim extremist groups such as al-Qaeda "envision a complete break from the foreign influences in Muslim countries," which means they have complete disregard for those who do not believe what they do (hmmm...sound familiar?) and actually seek to destroy these people. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and groups like al-Qaeda only consist of a very small portion of this number.
Reason #4: The foundation of America is based on freedom of religion. Hello, people! Many of our ancestors came here seeking the freedom to worship their god freely. And now you want to take that away from a people because they don't believe the same things you do.

How dare you! I am an American and a Christian yet I'm constantly persecuted for the things I believe in just because they aren't mainstream. Well, I will not sit idly by and let you do the same to others.

As Americans, we believe in the separation of church and state. We believe that we should be able to worship whoever we want however we want. And if Muslims want to live in America and study their Qur'ans and worship Allah, then by God let them do it.

Wake up! Educate yourself! Don't believe everything you read and see in the media. Do your own research and form your own opinion about things.

Abraham Lincoln once stated, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." People are worred about crazy Obama leading our nation into communism; well, I say you are being the communist by not allowing people to be different. You want everyone to think and act and worship just like you do. Well, get over it! Learn to coexist.