Is This What We've Become?

This is my neighbor's house. He's got a star, Sponge Bob, a snowman, Rudolph, a snow globe, and candy canes. For Halloween, he had a giant, gory vampire bat creature dripping blood and hanging upside down from his garage.

I don't want to sound prudish, or like I'm preaching, but...GOSH, is this what we've become? We have taken God out of everything, it seems, even the holiday that is supposed to be about Him. Worse, we've made everything so based on materialism and "stuff" that Sponge Bob, the obnoxious sponge, sells Christmas, and mangers offend. 

I shudder when we drive by this house. To me, it exemplifies what Christmas has become for so many--in all its glittery horror.

I felt this way when the world was gearing up for black Friday. Everyone seemed to be forgetting to pause and to say thank you to God for their blessings and their families. In this warp speed we call life, we work our tails off to buy more stuff to spend less time with the people the "stuff" is supposed to be for.

Henry David Thoreau talked about simplifying. "I went to the woods to live deliberately, to suck the marrow out of life." 

I don't feel like we live deliberately any more. We live in a shiny, flashy blur. We live on autopilot. We don't make the most important things meaningful. I see it in my students sometimes. There is a loneliness in their eyes. They long for recognition and attention. They need to matter. Their parents have not only stopped monitoring their homework, they have stopped teaching them basic life lessons- manners and morals, kindness, giving....love.

This isn't the time of year I want to focus on this. I won't spend another precious minute worrying about it, but I just had to VENT. 

 ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

~Matthew 6: 19-21

A Tail of Two Piggies...err Kitties

Can you match the tail to its owner?

Some are curly

Some are stout

Some are fluffy

Some stick out

All unique

All adored

Can you tell that someone's 

Reallllllly bored?

Why I Am Not Like Most People...

1) I don't follow sports. I don't know teams, players, who is playing, what "place" they are in, or even what season it is. I don't care about them at all. The only games I watch (sorta) are high school football games, and only because I feel ownership of the team since some of those guys are my students. :)

2) I don't care a lick about cars. I think people pay outrageous car payments. I haven't had a car payment in over 3 years! 

3) I text and Facebook using proper grammar. I shudder when I read "dat" instead of "that", "ur" instead of "your", "neva" instead of "never", "ta" instead of "to", and "sista" instead of "sister." YUCK.

4) I am not competitive in the least EXCEPT when it involves classroom competitions.

5) I don't understand why ANYONE would want to put nuts in ANYTHING...especially walnuts. YUCK again!

6) I like the smell of my dog's breath even though it repulses most people.

7) I don't really like talking to people one on one. I am better at writing or speaking with/to a classroom of students...even to a room of parents. I would rather speak or perform in front of a large group than actually CONVERSE with someone.  I seriously get panicky because I think I'll run out of stuff to say.  This doesn't apply to talking on the phone with close friends or to my husband or kids or close family. It applies to talking to someone I know, but not super well. I hate the pressure. I also worry I'll talk too much if I get going, or not enough if I don't come up with a topic quickly enough.

8) I am not good at lying or "faking it" when I don't really care for a person. I like to be genuine. I know that white lies are often necessary, or that people need to be politicians at times. I just don't like it. I avoid eye contact when I get uncomfortable in these sorts of situations. I need to learn to play the game and act friendly even when I'm not feelin' it.

9) If I don't read before bed, I cannot fall asleep. Even if it's just a page, I must read. I also get really worried if I'm out and about without a book on my person (either in my purse or in my car.) I have a reading app on my Iphone, but it's not the same.

10) I always have fun when I go out and do something, but I never like having a plan to go. I like the idea of staying home with my kids, my pugs, my cats, my books, and my tea. I traveled to the East Coast a couple of years ago and had the time of my life. I loved every minute of it, but before I left, I didn't want to go. I got so nervous and thought about how much everyone would miss me, how the plane could crash, how it was too long to be away from everything...I dreaded it. Then, I just went, and I loved it. I'm sure some psychologist type would tell me that I had panic disorder or anxiety. I probably do. I'm glad it doesn't stop me from doing the things I end up enjoying! :)