Free Watch Anyone?

I had a very proud moment the other day. I was in a tornado warning and I did not break down and start praying to God to spare me like crazy. Seriously-that's my norm. I don't do well in bad weather. Watches of any kind are enough to cause an increase in my blood pressure! (well watches related to potential weather threats at least-I'm not Captain Hook-throw a time telling watch at me and I'll just take it and thank you for the free watch)

This past Friday my area started by being in a tornado watch and I thought to myself "ok....just a watch.....nothing major.....you'll be fine" and then we got the announcement that the Watch is now a Warning. Sirens started going off in my head. Literally. I work at a college and we have very loud sirens that go off in case of severe weather threats or emergencies. I guess now would be a good time to say that on Friday we also had an event where I work so there were more than 900 visitors on campus in addition to the regular students and staff. Even though I felt bad for our visitors, I think they helped me keep calm. I am always much less worried if someone is with me. Even if that person can't do a single thing to help. The responsible and confident side of me kicks in and starts taking over. My thoughts turn from individual doomsday mentality to a proactive 'what can I do to make the situation better' mentality. I could have gone to the lower level of the building I was in with all the visitors right away. Heck-I got the announcement before the sirens started going off so really I could have beat them down there and been the welcoming party. But I didn't. I stayed where I was to go around alerting people where to go and what was happening. Only after everyone was taken care of did I go downstairs. Then I got to spin the situation into a "see how fast and effective we are at taking care of our students when there is any form of threat!?!" kind of message. (work long enough where I work and you can spin anything you want into a positive!)

End of the story is that I am alive. The tornado wasn't even very close to us at all. No damage around where I live which is exactly the way I like it. I also was able to save face in front of my coworkers and a bunch of strangers which is also exactly how I like it. But if I can avoid another tornado warning for a long time, I'd be absolutely ok with it!

Boston

Yesterday my faith in humanity was tested once again. An unknown person/persons set off explosives at the end of the Boston Marathon. It's these moments that make me question how far humanity has fallen. And question why there is such hate in the world. What causes someone to go so far as to take incredibly violent actions against completely innocent people. I highly doubt that the 8 year old who died yesterday had done anything worth the punishment he, and now his family, had to endure.

I try and be positive. I try to see the good in everything. But in situations like this it is so remarkably difficult. The only thing I can think to do is to continue trying to do good and assist wherever I can. I can't guarantee my influence will go very far-but I know that filling myself with hatred toward the individuals at fault isn't going to do anyone any good. Hate just breeds hate.

Patton Oswalt's facebook status yesterday regarding the bombing was so perfect, and much more poetic than I could ever be. It's gone completely viral already, but I want to post it here so that I can continue to look at it if (and sadly probably when) other horrendous activities take place and remind myself that the good do outweigh the evil on this planet.
  

"I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out... This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will." "-Patton Oswalt

Pack-A-Thon!

Originally I thought this post was going to be all about an amazing organization called Feed the Hunger. My church holds a yearly Pack-a-Thon for them where our goal is to pack 100,000 dry meals for impoverished countries. The food we packed last year (and I believe this year as well) was being sent to Haiti to feed the countless malnourished children there.

It's a fantastic organization that sends food not just to Haiti but also to places including Kenya and Sri Lanka. It's a crazy feeling to know that you've helped make sure that so many people will get a nutritious meal because of you (especially for someone like me who rarely cooks anything at all even in my own home!). And I don't want to take away from the organization. They do amazing things providing food, education, and God's message around the world.

But what really surprised me was how much I laughed during the event. See last year I participated, but just on my own. My friends were doing different shifts than I was so even though I enjoyed it, I was really only focused on not messing up more than anything else. This time however I was working a shift with 5 of my friends. I never thought I would end up crying tears of laughter on more than one occasion in just a few hour shift, but that's exactly what happened. Sometimes people would jump the gun in putting their ingredient into the bag, or randomly (and accidentally) put their ingredient in twice, we of course picked on each other for many various things, and at one point the machine sealing the bags even started sparking-which was cool but not really supposed to happen. Ok, so maybe it was a "you had to be there" kind of time, but I had so much fun I almost started feeling bad because I was there to help impoverished children and not laugh at with my friends right?!?

Then I realized helping others should be fun. Don't they say that laughter is the best medicine for pretty much everything after all? The average adult only laughs 15 times a day! The average child closer to 300!!! I'm pretty sure most people at the Pack-A-Thon probably surpassed the average adult daily laughs. From what I could tell, everyone was having a blast; except maybe the older gentleman that somehow got paired with our group. I couldn't tell if he was amused or annoyed at our antics. There was music constantly, cheering and yelling at all tables, and laughs all around. In fact that was probably the hardest I've laughed in some time, and I have to say that I left feeling better than I have all week!

129 people came out to help for the 2 hour shift I was part of and guess how many meals we packed??? Over 45,000!!! Such a fun way to help people who I'll more than likely never even meet! Because the event just happened I don't have this year's video from my specific church, but this one shows a little more about Feed the Hunger.

Recharging my batteries

So far today I: slept in, lounged and cleaned for a few hours, hiked with friends, went to the gym, and currently have laundry in the dryer and banana bread in the oven. A pretty ideal day if I say so myself. And very needed.

It's Easter weekend which means 3 days away from work and a chance to recharge my batteries. For the past month I've flown back and forth for work every 3 or 4 days. The constant back and forth, combined with working long hours every weekend, is probably more exhausting than the fall in which work takes me away from home for about 2 weeks at a time.

Originally I was supposed to be traveling this past week, but changed my plans a few days before I was supposed to leave. It was partially because it would not have been a productive trip, partially because it was a very busy week in the office and I knew they could use me, partially because I didn't want to leave my cat at home alone for a week, but mostly because the idea of getting to stay home thrilled me. I knew if I stayed home I'd be able to get errands done as well as actually sit back and relax. Take a mental break.

And it has been fantastic. I actually got more than 8 hours of sleep last night (which hasn't happened for quite some time), and then once I did wake up I just laid in bed watching TV for a bit. Knowing that if I had wanted, I could have stayed in bed all day. Granted that's not my style so after an episode of Boy Meets World I still got up.

I'm looking forward to another 2 days of pretty much the same. Looking forward to starting next week fresh and energetic. Looking forward to not dreading flying out again on Monday. And finally, looking forward to my banana bread which is just about done.....

Fresh Air and a Fresh Attitude

I always enjoy making my normal blog reading rounds. My favorites to check are the ones written by friends. Sometimes it's because I know I'm getting a shout out, but mostly it's because I love to keep up with my friends and get inside their heads more than just a Facebook status update. One such friend is AMK. We've been friends for years and even though we still see each other all the time, I still love reading her blog!

Thumbs up for being chums!!

Reading her latest post about our camping trip last weekend made me want to post one of my own. The Outdoor Activities Club in college is one of the big ways AMK and I became friends and so we still love to go hiking and camping when we have the chance.

This particular camping trip came at the best time possible. Work was leaving me highly annoyed and stressed, and to the point I really didn't want to be there whatsoever (which is quite rare for me to say as I typically enjoy my job). What I love about camping is the chance to completely get away from it all. Being able to escape the modern world can be amazing. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love technology and modern amenities. But turning off my phone completely and not having any TV, radio, internet, or phone was fantastic. There was no way work could reach me. And it was peaceful knowing we were 'off the grid' so to speak.

I think that's the main reason I'm drawn to camping. Escaping from all the stress that normal life puts on us. There's no work emails reaching me, no friend drama to surround me, and no sloth guilt for doing nothing but watching TV all day. Camping means that I can just enjoy the world around me. Let my mind stop running a million miles a minute and just enjoy the fresh air. Typically I enjoy going on hikes and exploring while camping, but this time we only left the immediate camp site when nature called. I think it was for the best this time because it really allowed me to just stop everything. (It also allowed me to not freeze since staying in the campsite meant staying by the fire.)

We all need that sometimes. To be able to escape the normal stress of life and decompress a bit. Everyone has their own way of going about it. The outdoors just happens to be mine. It allowed me to come back with a much better attitude as well. I came back refreshed and while I wasn't exactly excited for work, I did come back more willing. Now that Spring is really starting to come around (this weekend its 60 degrees! So much better than the 40 we had as a high last weekend!) I hope to get out more and more. Whether it be more camping trips, or day hikes, running outside, or even just sitting outside and reading. I can't wait to enjoy more fresh air!!

Sacrifices!

Phew-Lent started more than a week ago and yet this is the first chance I've really had to sit down and do something not work related at the computer. I look forward to next week when life may calm down a bit....who am I kidding, next week will still be crazy! May-yeah, maybe in May life may calm down a bit!

Regardless of the oh-so-fun (read: stressful) events at work, Ash Wednesday kicked off the Lenten season on Feb. 13th this year. Lent is a religious season symbolizing the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert being tested by Satan and thus is a time for reflection and sacrifice for us as believers. Not all Christian denominations celebrate Lent, but growing up in the Lutheran church, it was one of the most important parts of the year. Not only do you have regular church services on Sundays, but every Wednesday night as well. And don't get me started on Holy Week (the end of Lent) when you have church almost every day of the week as you celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection! The church I attend currently isn't Lutheran, and so while they don't make a big deal over the Lenten season, it is something that is still important to me.

Many people give up something during Lent as a way of sacrificing something they enjoy more than they should. A lot of my friends have given up chocolate or candy or alcohol. Soda was always my go to sacrifice. I LOVE some Dr. Pepper that's for sure! But last year I decided to cut back as a whole when I started realizing exactly how much sugar and calories I was ingesting through have 3 sodas a day (seriously-that was my norm during the fall). Now I only allow myself 3 sodas for the whole week anyway so that sacrifice was out. Instead, this year I decided to give up something I had never attempted before.....cursing!

I don't swear up and down everyday, but I do swear more than I probably should. I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as giving up something physical. To have a soda takes not only a mental choice, but to physically follow through. Cursing on the other hand, you do without really thinking about it. And so even though Lent started back on the 13th, yesterday (the 21st) was my first successful no cursing day!!! I was out with friends last night and when I realized how close I was to making it I got very excited and wanted to share, but didn't for fear of jinxing myself.

I probably will continue to slip here and there, but I like the idea of breaking bad habits and vices. Especially one where I feel like I remember Jill Taylor from Home Improvement saying something along the lines of "When people curse it's just because they aren't smart enough to come up with anything else to say"

One of the best shows ever! Mostly due to the adorable JTT!

"those" friends

You know those friends. The friends that pay more attention than you think. The friends that probably care more than you know. They tend to be the most overlooked at times, and yet make me the most grateful.

Today's just been an off day. A good amount of people I know are having a really crappy Monday. That's not necessarily the case for me. Nothing has gone dreadfully wrong. I haven't received any horrible news (knock on wood since there's still another 7+ hours left in the day!). And yet it's just off. I'm not feeling happy, I'm not necessarily feeling sad. I guess emotionless would be a better word. Going through my day, getting my work done, and waiting until 5:00 to be free to run a few errands and watch some Downton Abbey on DVR.

Apparently this emotionless state has meant a quieter me today. I love my coworkers-seriously I do. They are all pretty happy, energetic, and absolutely hilarious. We actually see each other outside the office on purpose and the quips back and forth between offices is a mainstay where I work. Honestly I didn't even realize I wasn't participating in any conversation today. And it wasn't because I was so overwhelmed with work I had to focus. Granted I did have things to do and got a good amount done today, but I still had time to do some facebook stalking and tumblr reading here and there.

Then, at 3:53pm today I got this email: "Hey Homie! You ok? You've been awfully quiet today."

(yup-we call each other 'homie'. Like I said-LOVE my coworkers)

That's when it dawned on me. This person didn't have to check on me at all. Yet I have no doubt if I said "well actually I got some bad news" that the immediate response would be "do you want to talk about it?" or "what can i do?" It made me wonder when the last time I've reached out to someone like that was. When someone looked at me and was grateful for any extra support I gave that wasn't expected. I like to think of myself as dependable-but why should people have to ask for the help first? New ambition is to be more like my coworker (except for her love of 4+ inch heels-I'd break an ankle in those things in no time!!!)