Book Review: 10-10-10

10-10-10: 10 Minutes, 10 Months, 10 Years is written by renowned columnist Suzy Welch. Her book allows you to place perspectives on decisions that you probably have never thought of. She explains that when making any type of decision either big or small you should 1. Place your values in the forefront and 2. See what your decision will make your life look like in 10 minutes, 10 months, and in 10 years. The 10 can actually be any number you choose but it allows you to think about decisions and how they will affect your future. Along with 10-10-10 and placing your values in the forefront she also has you consider the pros and cons of your decision. She focuses her main chapters on using 10-10-10 for marriage, job searching, college selection, divorce, and starting a family. It is a wonderful book full of examples and it is an easy concept to grasp. If you have trouble making decisions this is a great book for you and I really suggest you to read it. I give it a 5 out of 5.

Ignorance...I think

Sorry that I have not written in a really long time, however a lot has happened. One, I purchased a new car. A red Saturn Vue and I love it and am very excited to have a new one. Second, I officially became a senior in college by obviously having finals and all that fun end of the year jazz, thus why I have not blogged in so long. I also could not think of a good topic to blog about and there has been some recent events in my life that has made me want to kind of rant so here it is:

The first thing I wanted to discuss was judgement. I do not judge people or at least I try not to and recently with news popping up about reality TV stars and personal people in local newspapers there has been a lot of judgement around. It bothers me to be with people who judge constantly because 1. if they speak this to you you wonder what they are saying about you and 2. why do they think it is okay to judge. I have a friend here at college that I do not like to go out with because of how she talks about other people and how they dress. She does not even know these people but she stares at them like they have sinned so bad they bought themselves a ticket straight to hell. Half the time she is judging I am confused because she is typically dressed just as distastefully as they are. Then there are those people who judge a reality TV star for being in the public. My example is Kate Gosselin from Jon and Kate plus 8. I love this show and I feel sorry for what they are going through right now. A divorce is hard regardless of children or not and regardless of media or not. People are judging Kate for going on TV and to the magazines to make statements. They think she is a horrible wife and a horrible mother. How would they feel if the roles were reversed and people were saying this about them? And my final question: Who Cares? I hope the best outcome happens for Kate and her family whether that be divorce or not. I just wish people did not judge so quickly. Just remember people are also talking about you. NO ONE in the world is perfect except for the Great I Am. And aren't we suppose to wait for judgement day to be judge by the One that actually matters? 

"We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" 2 Corinthians 5:10.

The second thing I want to "rant" on is ignorance in school systems for children with special needs. Now many of you who know me understand that when I say special needs I refer to children with developmental disabilities. This time though my definition is extended to children who also have physical disabilities, for instance being deaf or blind. I was raised in a Catholic home and attended Catholic private school all my life. Unfortunately my Catholic grade school has gone down and many people are not only turning away from the school but also the church. One reason is that the Priest of the Church is trying to run things his way and many people are having a hard time with this. My example will explain to you why: 

A woman has three children, two already at this private Catholic School and her third will be attending kindergarten there this coming fall. To prepare for her kindergartner to attend school she had a meeting with the Priest to discuss daughter's disability. She is deaf and must have two hearing aids. To help with her schooling she will be receiving funding to allow for a tutor to come in daily and work with her one on one and a special electronic device that will help her hear her teachers better. The Priest told her that her kindergartner is not accepted into the school and should go the public school around the corner. The mother was flabbergasted. Her daughter was denied acceptance to a school because of a disability that she has no control over. So the mother tried for the other private Catholic school about ten minutes away from the other one. She spoke with the principal who was informed by the priest that she be denied admittance. The mother is now taking legal action and reported him to the Diocese.

This story is so upsetting to me considering that everyone should be accepting of EVERYONE regardless of whether or not they have a disability. How are we suppose to teach our children and everyone else to not be ignorant when he is flat out telling someone based on discrimination that they cannot do something. What is this world coming to?

Rear Ending

I was not going to blog about this but then after thinking about it almost all day I decided to. This morning, well more like this afternoon I was in a very minor car accident. No one was seriously injured and neither car was damaged (thank goodness), but I wanted to share the story with you and give you tips on how to be prepared for a minor accident or severe one of this kind. So here is the story:

It was rainy today while I was driving and a large truck that I could not see around was in front of me. The truck moved into the left hand turn lane and when he did that I realized the cars in front of him were 1. stopped 2. a lot closer than I had anticipated, so I slammed on my brakes. Well the brakes locked and I slid into the rear end of a PT Cruiser. I immediately put my flashers on and got out of the car to see if the other driver was okay and to see where there was damage to the cars. When I approached the car, a woman probably in her early thirties was there in panic on the phone already to the police. After making sure she was okay, I got back into my car and waited for the police to arrive. Needless to say since there was absolutely no damage to either us or the cars there was no report to be filed and we were able to go on our happy and safe ways.

The reason I was not going to share this story was because I did not think it was a big deal, but it has been with me all day and the reason is because this was the other woman's as well as my first accident ever. We both were inexperienced, I was able to stay calm but the other woman was not. Since she had never experienced this before she panicked and thought her car was totaled. When the officer had her get out and look at the lack of damage she became calm and realized the major accident she thought she was in was just a very minor one indeed. So again the reason I am posting this is because I have attached a link to ways to handle a fender bender of any kind. If you have never been in an accident please read this to know what to do if you are ever in an accident.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4456432_survive-fender-bender.html

Movie Review: The Soloist

This past Tuesday, I won early screening tickets to see The Soloist starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx and directed by Joe Wright (Atonement). It follows a journalist, Steve Lopez (Downey), for the L.A. Times on his journey of finding short pieces to write. He ends up meeting Nathanial Anthony Ayers Jr. (Foxx) as he is walking around one day in L.A. He listens to his music and learns that Mr. Ayers attended Juilliard. Lopez becomes fascinated with Mr. Ayers and starts writing pieces about him. He also starts learning about his past and how he fell in love with music. Mr. Lopez also starts to learn the Ayers sufferers from schizophrenia and that is why he was never able to graduate or perform his music. Ayers denies his schizophrenia and it only flares up when he is about to perform for an audience or is in an experience where his schizophrenia has heightened in his past. 

The movie portrays the friendship and bond between these two characters and it has a heart felt feeling throughout the movie. It shows the importance of never giving up on someone and always being there just to be a friend. I enjoyed this movie, however I felt that it did drag on a bit. The run time is two hours and the cast is excellent. My favorite scene is when Ayers and Lopez are sitting at a rehearsal for the L.A. Symphony and the movie shows you how Ayers sees the music. It is fascinating. I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.

Miss America

I assume you have been hearing the buzz on the radio, TV, or in the news about Miss California and the way she answered a question during the Miss America Pageant. If not here is a recap: 

Miss California was a contestant for the Miss America Pageant 2009 and was in the top 5 to be chosen. Once the top 5 are chosen they go through a series of questions where judges and the audience can hear their answers. The judges score the contestants based on a points system and the contestant with the highest points wins the crown. When listening to the answers, judges look for articulation and good speaking. When Miss California took the stage to answer questions for the 2009 Miss America Pageant, Perez Hilton, a contest judge, asked her whether or not every state should legalize gay marriage. Miss California, giving her opinion, disagreed and said no. She believed that marriage was a sacred thing between a man and a woman. Perez Hilton later called Miss California a "dumb b***h" and said that she was a disgrace to America and did not deserve the crown because she should not represent America. He also states that her answer cost her the crown.

This to me is interesting because don't we live in a country for the Land of the Free? Doesn't it state in our Constitution's First Amendment that we have a freedom of speech, expression, and religion? So why did her OPINION cost her the crown. Maybe the way she articulated her answer cost her the crown, but to take points away from someone based on her personal opinion is wrong. They took away her freedom of speech and dogged her for not being in the "current times." I think this debacle is a little ridiculous and yes, her answer does not agree with many others but would you have rather had her answer "yes" and then after possibly being crowned Miss America revoke her answer? More people would be outraged and say she is a liar. She was honest and still chose to speak out. Regardless of her answer, either a yes or a no, people would be upset...so take it as you wish but I think she did a great thing for standing up for her belief and being honest. Many girls can now look at her and say, I want to be able to do the same thing. 

Happy Easter

Easter is a holiday that my family and I celebrate every year and I look forward to it. No, it is not on my top list of holidays but it is on my top list of eating during the holiday. After attending sunrise service (which will be blogged about further down in this post) we always eat breakfast casserole. This consists of bread, sausage, a cream of something (I think it is cream of celery), eggs, and cheese. It is so good, I could eat the whole thing! Then our family comes of to our house (perk of having family over, you don't have to go anywhere) and we have a big meal. This year it consisted of ham, cheese potatoes, green beans and ham, chicken noodles, rolls and salad. And of course cannot forget about the deserts, but I don't like pie so I won't talk about them too much. 

Being a Catholic, we attend a Catholic Sunrise Service every year. We go where we are parishioners (sp?) and this year the service was a little blah. Of course the Gospel is always the same but there was no music nor excitement. This is suppose to be one of the most exciting times in our church and there was no excitement at all during the service. I was really disappointed in that. I do not attend mass weekly because I attend a Methodist church on Sunday's, so when the mass was not good, I was really surprised. They used to be glorious services with decorations and loud music but now they are not. I also love to hear the story so I have posted it below here.

The Empty Tomb

John 20:1-9

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead).

Hallmark

In high school, I worked for Hallmark Gold Crown Store and many of my family and friends know that was a perfect job for me. I loved meeting all the customers and talking to our regulars. I also loved helping people pick out gifts that were going to mean something to someone else. My first job at Hallmark ended my junior year when the store I was working for closed. I happened to be walking in another Hallmark store when I heard the owner talking to an employee about how they were hiring and needed to hire more people. I immediately popped up to the counter and asked for an application. I was interviewed and hired on the spot. I was so excited. 

Since going to college, I have not worked at Hallmark, however I still love to go to them. In my county there are not many Hallmark stores left so when I go to when, I spend hours. I love the smell of the Yankee Candles and the neatness of everything. I love looking at the cards and it reminds me of the holidays when people would rush in looking for the perfect-last-minute card. Valentine's day was my favorite. The Hallmark's I worked for typically closed at eight in the evening so on Valentine's Day from 7 pm to 8 pm men would be lined up looking for cards for their wife, daughter, girlfriend, or fiance. My favorite was when I would stand there and a customer would come to me saying "I need a V-day card for my wife, she is not into words and a funny one would be great." I would then grab a card and hand it to the man who would then proceed to check out without reading the card. It always amazed me.

Hallmark is such a great place and they truly have any card for you or occasion. Especially with their different lines and collections. I have even used words from cards to make scrapbook pages. Their gifts are unique and every Hallmark store is different. They always have the typical Willow Tree and Precious Moments, but each carry additional products by either hometown companies or nationwide companies that other stores don't carry.

The reason I am blogging about this, is because I recently was in a Hallmark store and realized how much I miss it. I miss the employees I worked with, the regular customers who grew to be your family, and the new customers that were looking for special gifts.