Random Thoughts

Here are a few random and unrelated thoughts.

~ It's going to be a long, hot day in the office. The window unit that keeps my little workspace cool is not functioning properly. I do not want to ask my dad purchase another one, though, because it's October and I'm not going to need cool air for much longer (hopefully.) I may change my mind; it's only 10:00, and I am already quite warm. And then again, many people have endured much worse tribulations and have lived to tell about it. I can handle 93 degrees in a small, closed space without any air circulation for one day. (Is everyone feeling sorry for me yet?)

~ My grandmother returned from Boston, MA, Monday evening after a two week absence. She has moved in with my brother in our little house in Fort Worth. I haven't seen her since she returned, but this evening we are going to meet her for dinner. I am looking forward to welcoming her back to the great state of Texas.

~ I have been thinking about how much I love feminine hair. By feminine hair, I mean hair that is styled in a feminine manner and looks graceful and pretty. Last night, I pulled out my Klutz book Hair. A good portion of the outfits the models wear in that book are not feminine, however almost all of the models look very feminine because their hair is fixed so lovely. I have always enjoyed experimenting with new ways to fix my hair and, when I was younger and had more time, loved doing my sister's hair. I am going to make a conscious effort to make my hair look nice each day instead of simply throwing it back in a pony tail.

~ "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24

Recent Activities

I have been so busy these past few weeks. School, work, my grandmother's paperwork, my sisters, the phone, and general life activities have been filling my time to capacity. Oh, and the weather hasn't gotten any cooler. It's up in the 90's again!

This past weekend, my parents took a trip to Virginia. They visited Williamsburg, Jamestown, the University of Virginia and Monticello. Since it was just the girls and me at home Friday evening, I decided, at the last moment, to have a tea party for them. It was quite nice, though unplanned. I made a large pot of strawberry tea and chicken salad sandwiches. I served the dinner on our china. The girls enjoyed it. I had been wanting to do something similar to that for a while, but had never made time. Saturday, we spent the day sewing, playing monopoly and watching movies. (I should mention that I didn't watch any movies, but everyone else squeezed their month's quota of television viewing into two days. Josh has not had too many idle days in the past few weeks, so he vastly enjoyed doing nothing.)

I hope in the near future to have more time to devote to blogging. Currently, though, every spare minute is being utilized. There are so many other things I want/need to do - start on my quilt, start my sister's afghan, finish crocheting my mom's afghan, finish my apron I'm sewing, finish helping Abigail sew her doll nightgown, finish helping Amanda with her sewing projects, finish the cross-stitch project I started two years ago (I'm almost done with that!), finish reading the five or so books I'm in the middle of reading - I have a lot of finishing to do - wash my car, clean my bedroom (I did clean out my closet and attic last week - that was an accomplishment), clean our bathroom, cook, exercise, rework my management homework, do my advanced accounting homework (that's what I am suppose to be doing right now, but I'm procrastinating :), and much, much more! For now it is time to stop typing and start on my homework.

~ God Bless ~

A Few Pictures

This is a post I just found in my draft folder. These are pictures that we took on Allyson's birthday in the beginning of September. I've been wanting to post some pictures,but I don't have any recent ones to post so these "old" ones will have to suffice.

Grams with the birthday girl

About to depart for the Mesquite Pit

A somewhat blurry pictures of the four sisters.

CLEP: Mission Accomplished (50% of it at least)

I'm trying to get my posting average up to one a day. That way the title of my blog (Thought of the Day) may actually make sense. I don't think I am going to achieve that goal, but I figured I can always start heading in the right direction...

I took, and passed, a CLEP test today. There is a little background I must share regarding this event. In December of this year, I will have completed all of my required courses to get a B.S. in Accounting Control Systems. However, I will only have 120 credit hours. You must have 124 hours to graduate. I decided, to earn credit for the other 4 hours, I would take two CLEP tests. I procrastinated way too long regarding these tests. I was suppose to take them before I ever began my summer classes in July. A couple of Fridays ago, someone from the academic advising department called me and said that I need to take my CLEP tests no later than the first week of October if I want to graduate in December. That definitely motivated me to quit procrastinating and get the tests taken. I called the testing department and asked them if I they would grant credit for an American Literature test. They said, "No problemo," - or something like that. Today I called the testing department again to make sure I had everything I needed for the test, and someone informed me that the UNT English department no longer grants credit for CLEP tests. What? All that preparation I put in to studying for this test was for nothing? I must have spent at least 30 minutes preparing for it! (Actually, it was probably 6-8 hours.) Anyway, it is now the first week of October and I have to get the CLEP credit or I won't be able to graduate. I had to take the test today! So I randomly picked another test, Introduction to Educational Psychology. (What? Psychology? I can't stand psychology!) Without any preparation or forethought (but with a lot of prayer!), I took the test and passed it. Yea!!! Now, I've got to do the same thing on Thursday. Wouldn't it be humorous if I couldn't graduate in December because I only have 123 hours and I need 124? I dare say some people wouldn't find it humorous, so I will do my best to avoid that scenario.

On a more serious note, it is amazing to me how gracious God is when we fail. In my life, there have been numerous opporunities for my procrastinating (and other sinful behaviors) to cause me extreme heartache and frustration - which I deserve! And yet, God has continuously given me favor and grace when I did not deserve it. It is incredible to me, and it inspires me to press even more fervently towards "the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Weather

I am posting on such interesting topics! First my millionth post on New Orleans (which I am just as tired of discussing as the rest of the world, but for some reason I keep writing about ...) and now the weather. Wow, Amy, your creative juices are certainly flowing!

Anyway, I just had to let everyone know that the cooler weather we experienced last Thursday was a false alarm. I was very hopeful that it signalled the beginning of fall, but I was mistaken. Since then, the high temperature has been in the 90's. I could go swimming today and still be warm! This is October, not July. What's happening? I'm beginning to wonder if all the environmental extremist's global warming legends are true... (Actually, no I am not.)

Thursday, the cooler weather is suppose to arrive for real! It's going to be in the 50's. There is even a prediction of it dipping down into the 40's! Can you imagine? I'm going to have to pull out my gloves, scarf, hat, and coat! Do you think we'll get some snow? (Ridiculousness now ending.)

I know from reading other blogs that these unusually warm temperatures are not unique to the DFW area. It seems the entire south is having an extraordinarily long summer. And for those of you who live in an area that actually has four seasons, enjoy the other three for me!

Metairie (aka New Orleans)

My dad and a crew of seven other workers went to New Orleans last weekend. They brought all of my grandmother's personal belongings and undamaged furniture back to Texas. They also gutted the entire downstairs of her condo. The amount of work they accomplished in one day was truly incredible - especially considering the fact that they had to bring everything they needed with them and were working in an area without electricity.

Here are a few tidbits of information regarding the Crecent City that I gleaned from my dad. 1. Home Depot is open. (I knew you were all dying to know that.) 2. Huge piles of trash fill the yards of all the residential neighborhoods. The trash piles include building materials, appliances, and other items. 3. It does not smell good in my grandmother's neighborhood. 4. The electricity is back on in many parts of the city, but it wasn't in my grandmother's neighborhood. 5. Streets, driveways and garages are full of really nice cars that don't run anymore (they were flooded.) Dad estimated that of every 100 cars he saw, 2 were in working condition. 6. Boats are on the sides of the roads, but if you generously decide to help clear the roadways of this debris, the National Guard will quickly change your mind. (Dad said he saw a guy try to hook up a boat to his truck and within minutes a large number of law enforcement officers were surrounding him.) 7. Many of the stores (Ex: Walgreens, Dominoes, etc.) that have re-opened can only find enough workers for one shift. 8. Somewhere in New Orleans you can get beignets because Dad had some while he was there! I want some beignets! I want to go to Cafe Du Monde! (Does anyone know if they are re-open or are going to re-open? Dad didn't find that out.)

After seeing the city first hand, Dad said that he thinks the destruction is rather overwhelming. Not so much the intensity of it, but just the massiveness of the damage. However, he did say that he thinks he could have my grandmother's house livable within 60 days. That's a good thing. Knowing my dad, he can make it happen. We're not sure yet if Grams is going to move back there or if she's going to sell that house (assuming it can be sold) and move to Texas. Anyway, that's my New Orleans update. (Really, I should quit saying that my grandmother lives in New Orleans, because technically she lives in Metairie. However, most people know where New Orleans is, but are unfamiliar with the location of Metairie. Therefore, I shall continue to refer to New Orleans as her former place of residence.)