On picking a church

I have lived in Oklahoma for almost seven years. I have thought about joining a church and I have gone to a couple churches in the past two years for services, weddings and funerals. I just haven't bothered to join.

I guess I am hoping to find a church that isn't so hung up on religion....so hung up on the rules. I know, sounds more like a social club. It seems strange to me that here I am in the so-called "Bible-Belt" and yet the crime rate is so high. So friggin high. How can that be?

There are so many churchs here...as popular as 7-11's.....one on every other corner. There are all kinds of denominations too...Baptist (I went to a funeral at a Baptist Church...there were so much "amen"ing and "praise the Lord"ing the poor pastor couldn't get though the service.); Catholic (went to a memorial service at a Catholic church... the priest actually kissed the pulpit, kissed his Bible, kissed his little sash he wears. I got my arobic workout by kneeling, sitting down, standing up, kneeling, sitting, standing.); Lutherin (no slightly amusing tales to share there). Then there are so many who have to be first...First Church of Edmond; First Church of Christ; First Church of Overthinking...everyone wants to be number one! What's up with that?

I also want a church who isn't going to discriminate because you are gay or pro-choice. I am neither of these things, but I still don't want someone telling them they are wrong. My church would except you for who you are. Well, of course, there are limits there too since I still don't think it's okay to be a pediphil or a murderer...so I guess acceptance has its limits too. It angers me so when you hear on the news how church members can justify bombing an abortion clinic. It's like, what is wrong with this picture?

My church would just believe in being good; doing good things and having a little prayer now and then. My friend at work says I should read the Bible. I know this isn't going to happen. I believe what I believe and I really don't think I need to talk about it. When a friend sends me one of those emails that says, "If you love God, you will forward this to 10 people." It ain't going to happen. God knows fully well what I feel about him. I don't need to bug 10 friends about it. I also don't want my church to post the tally of my contributions. I don't think church should cost me anything...if it does, I won't go.

What I should do is Church shop...go to a new one every week and then make a decision. I'm going to sleep on that. Good night.

The birds have my name on their beaks...

They are saying, "Cheap, cheap.." I will admit, I am a cheapskate. As I had stated before, I'm really big on thrift shopping. Oh man, the deals I got yesterday just make me want to squeal. I bought this beautiful Amanda Smith two piece suit...ivory, fully lined, with pleats in the skirt and functional pockets in the skirt and in the jacket. It is in great shape. I just need to get it dry cleaned. I paid a whooping $2! Yeah...that's two bucks. Whoever owned it before me couldn't have worn it more than once. The threads on the waist band that held on the cardboard label are still intact. Those are the threads that you need a seam ripper to pull. I bought my husband a perfect pair of Dockers...his exact size for 50 cents! I also bought a jumper (made in the USA) for $1.75. All are going to the dry cleaners today (except for the Dockers which are machine washable). I may never pay retail ...or even sale price retail again. Sorry I if am dwelling on the unimportant....I just can't help it.

Work is so darn busy. I have a major mailout that has to be ready to go out Wednesday. I'm going home Wednesday morning (6/29-7/7). I'll get the mail merge done, the letters printed but someone else will have to stuff envelopes. I'm not missing my plane. Besides if I were in charge...if only...it would have been done by now...but that's another story. More later.

Bloggernauts Unite

I'm new to this blogging and I gotta say, I'm loving it. And it seems so many are on the same track. I'm so glad there are people out in cyberland who know how to write...not this "how r u doin 2 nite?" crap. When chatting with people, even those with a piece of paper that says they received an education, it amazes me how they got so far when they say things like, "Your so funny," or "There going to the beach." Aw...what a turn off. (Okay, I'm not above making an error now and then, but you know when it's an error and just plain laziness.) It's refreshing and unfortunately I have to cut this short as my lunch is over. Dang this working for a living...really cuts into your personal time. :)

My Physical Therapist is Amazing

Oh...I feel good all over. Just back from PT. Dr. Love (I'm not making this up) is so good. I said, "You must have a very happy wife," as his hands did its thing on the tension in my shoulders and neck. Then he hooked me up to these electroids...on my lower back and my shoulders/neck area. They sent electricity to my skin as I laid on hot pads. It was so fine...until the buzzer went off and I had to leave. Damn. Damn it was good.

Not much else new in my world. Snorting co-worker was still doing his thing but I managed to tune it out. Life is good.

OMG...I'm getting comments! This is so great!

Oh, I can not believe it! People are reading me! I'm so darn excited. One commentor who collects interesting imbecile stories (an interesting past time...certainly not boring) conceded that I am not an imbecile just a poor maiden in need of a life. I say, touchet but as my blog disclaims..."It's kind of mundane but I like it that way." (Okay, not all the time...I'm working on that.) Thanks for reading. It has made my intensely data-entry-laden-life-at-work bearable. I don't mind being in my "Awfical" even if my co-worker (a man of substance...how's that for a euphemism?) still insists on swallowing the bile he resurrects from his lungs every three or four minutes. (I'm just happy there isn't an odor attached to it.) So thank you.

Since I am at work, I have made my browser screen microscopic so only one short line of text is visible amongst the Access database I have open. I'm just one quick click away from not being discovered. Of course, this doesn't include the MIS guys downstairs. "Hi Steve"...in case he is watching my every keystroke. They said I can't email but they didn't say anything about blogging. I'm of the belief you sometimes need to NOT ask. Just do and apologize later if need be.

I better get back to work. More on my boring life later. Oh, and did I say, Thanks for reading?!!!

Found a book, found a bargain, got some bread

Could life get much better? I went to the Edmond Farmers Market. Didn't buy a farmer but I was looking. I did get some bread, zuchinni/raisen/nut...love it. Then I went to the library and a book grabbed me enough to actually check it out. Plus I learned how to do the self-service check out. That is so cool...scan your card, scan your book, out pops the receipt. See, I'm so easily amused.

Then I went to this thrift shop on Litter. There were a lot of cars in the general area of the shop. I found out why...almost everything was half price. I bought four pairs of slacks for a whopping $2.16. Two of them I have to hem to make into Capris...I'm just too tall and finding my inseam is a feat. One is for Phil but I might have to hem them because he's so short (not really but his legs are shorter than mine even though he is taller than me). The other...Eddie Baurer...is a good fix. My waist is 32 and my inseam is 34...the Eddie Bauer is exactly that which is amazing because clothing people, or the person who purchases the clothing for stores, usually don't have 34 inseam unless your waist is 34 or larger. Of course, I don't shop at the high end places when I am looking to pay retail. But even the cataloges (Penneys, Sears) don't think long legged people are relatively thin. Most catalogs list a tall size and state the inseam is 32...whooo whoooo. Anyway, I'm happy w/ my finds.

Since I started this Pilates exercise, my body has gone amuck. There's this one exercise where you have to squeeze the muscle that you use to stop yourself from peeing. I can't remember the muscle..I think it starts with a "K". Well, you won't believe it but I think I pulled that muscle. Something "in there" hurts a bit now. Only I could do this! Wait till I tell my Physical Therapist. He'll flip.

I gotta go...later.

Tom and Katy are getting Married!

Oh, I'm so happy for them. Really! Okay...not really. I can't believe this is headline stuff. Like Michael Jackson being found not guilty. It was the headline in the Oklahoman. Surely this can not be the most important item in the news, no? The local news this morning had a story about Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes...he proposed to her at the Effiel Tower. Okay, yes, I'm jealous but I still don't think this is headline stuff. I told Phil, imagine going some place for leisure and not having to worry about how much money you are spending. We can't do that...everything has a price. We can't go bowling, it cost a fortune...money better spend on food and clothing. I just can't imagine the ease of just buying what you want....and I'm not talking about extravant stuff...I mean just lunch and tickets to a play or a concert or simple stuff.

Oh well. Maybe in another life.

I go to the library (thank God that's free) and I try to find a book that really grabs me, throws me against the wall and screams "read me, read me!" I can't find one at the moment. I'm sure I will eventually but I have taken two out and discovered I couldn't get into them. I'm so picky. I just like upbeat happy girl meets boy kind of books. I seem to gravitate to the first person narrative. Like, The Book of Joe and Everything Changes by Tropper. I need to find one this weekend.

Oh. what to do?

Lunch time in my "awfical" (used to be 'Offical' as in a combo of office and cubical...now an awfical). I have the heater blasting. I had my back on ice until it melted. Thank God for reuseable ice packs. I was surfing the many blogs on the net. Some are very interesting. Some just want to sell something, some just want me to know about their sex life. Not necessary....Thank you very much. I wonder if anyone ever just comes upon my blog. I hope they leave a comment.

I have PT tonight. Phil's getting a pizza. That works for me. His sister's birthday was yesterday. They got pizza and I think Phil felt bad to not be there. He said we should have pizza tonight because they had it yesterday back home. I said, we should celebrate Kathy's birthday, too. Phil doesn't let on what he's feeling or when he's missing his family. He should tell me more. He did say he was jealous that I was going home in two weeks and he wasn't. "I didn't plan my vacation, right," he said. I didn't tell him what I was thinking...that I wanted to go back without him. Nothing personal...I just want to concentrate on my visit w/ my mom and dad. If he were there too, I'd have to spend more time at his family's and I really don't want to. I will see his mom for sure. I'm not sure if I will stay the night though. I'm at someone's mercy for a car or a ride. Anyway, I'm glad he shared his feelings with me.

I better go. Later....

I need an Attitude Adjustment

No, doubt! I can't get people to understand that the world does revolve around me. What's wrong with them...all of them? Surely they know the sun rises each day for me, no? I want more than I'm getting. I want people to know where I'm coming from before I have to explain it. I want to be in control. I want to work more. How crazy is this? I want to work but my boss won't let me. Budget issues, she says. OH, then she says I'm being too perfect...spending too much time on my project. She knows it won't ever be perfect but I want to make it as perfect as possible. Surely management can understand that? No? I want a job where I can work till my hearts content. Is that so much to ask for? I want to be in demand, by golly...I'm worth it.

I need to remind myself....the world doesn't work the way I want it to work no matter how illogical that may be.

Saturday headache

There ought to be a law against having a monster headache on a Saturday. This headache was definately a "call in sick to work" headache. It's gotten better but it's still there. Caffeine doesn't seem to touch it. It's a sinus thing no doubt. The weather is freaky too; a barometric change happening. Phil had said the models were setting up unusually according to the National Weather Service. There is a hurricane in the gulf...storm Arlene is brewing. I think she's messing with my head.

I am going to physical therapy. My therapist, Mr. Love, has told me the bad news on Thursday. My structure is really out of whack. I need to do Pilates...a series of exercises designed to help with my posture. Most of my aches and pains can be linked to my poor posture. The good news....I'm not a worse case scenerio. I need to do my strength exercises too tonight.

I would really like it if I had someone to blog with. I have one friend, Rob but he's not very reliable. I also have Liz but she is too busy too. Everyone has a life but me.

Went to a party at Kathy and Al Wheelers. It was fun but it would be more fun for me if people paid a little attention to me. Yes, I am sure that is a defect in my persona that probably is a catch 22...this need no doubt turns people off, even if I don't come out and say so. There was one girl there I talked to, Christa or Christin or something like that. I told Phil I didn't care for her personality. The truth is though, it's probably one of these "don't like you" before you make it clear you don't like me. I'm whacked.

Newsletter disaster

I finally got the word that I could copy and distribute my newsletter "The Illuminator" to everyone in the department. Debi said it was a go. I had to redo the letter on Publisher, which I had been doing on my own time. Something happened when I was saving it. Apparently I was updated an older version. I printed it out, in a hurry because I knew the time situation was an issue for Debi. It was wrong! Debi brought it back to me. I was so mad at myself. I fixed it but then after I sent it out again, it was still wrong! Here was this chance for me to shine a little, to show off my creative skills and I frigged it up. I started to cry. I talked to Debi about it. I told her, "I'm not trying to make excuses but I didn't want to spend too much time on it so I didn't review it again. I thought I had made those changes weeks ago." She looked at me and I could see the wheels turning...the expression said, "well you didn't check it and now it's wrong." Debi is not good at supporting you when she thinks you're slightly wrong. Aw.....I was so upset. I was trying to tell Flora. She understood. Aw....more later.