Inefficiency

Inefficiency is something that really annoys me. I mean, why would you want to do something in a way that was not efficient? Who doesn't want to have less of their time wasted?

Granted I am an accountant and tend to be overly organized and on the verge of obsessive compulsive by nature...but still...I know plenty of messy slobs that are equally as annoyed by inefficiencies in their lives. Take the artsy journalist (okay, so not necessarily a "messy slob" but probably an individual who lives moment to moment rather than living by a To-Do list) who spends their days at Starbucks, drinking, writing, reading...they do not want to have to wait for the same person who takes their money for their latte to then have to wash-up, and begin to make their latte. No. We want to separate teams of people, one group for taking our money, and the other to start the tasty beverage as soon as it is called...in the hopes that after putting our wallets away we can head straight to the coffee bar to pick up our beverage of choice. Okay, so this goes far beyond coffee. I realize that much of my life is wasted by my being inefficient in the way I do things...take my two hour trips to the grocery store. (Granted the grocery store I frequent is huge and sometimes I get turned around...and usually eat my lunch while I'm there...but still..seems like an awful long time to me.)

I am an awesome project planner, and starter...but I'm not so good at the finishing part. Perhaps its the frustration I feel when I am in the middle of something and things are not proceeding quite as I had planned. When I was small I used to tell my grandfather, 'I just go with the flow." Now that seems almost foreign to me. "Go with the flow? How can I when this isn't how it was 'supposed to be'?" Instead of "where do we go from here" I'm trapped in the mindset of "how do we get back to where we deviated from The Plan" and continue on as, well, planned.

Wow, I think I've gone way further inefficient here in this far corner of my little brain...perhaps this requires more thought...

Rain

Rain is a funny thing. We desperately need the rain around here and were blessed by some Sunday afternoon. And then came the storms. Seems like people want the rain, but could do without the storms. How true is that for other areas of our life as well? We want the cleansing rain, the purity, the renewal...but not the storm that sometimes comes along with it. Rain was fitting after my past month or so. It's been a dry month. I took a four day weekend this past weekend and boy, was that some much needed rain.

Tired

Do you ever just feel tired? The kind of tired that even a 8 hour slumber cannot combat? The kind of tired that never goes away? That's me. Right now. Why have have I been so tired lately? Why does it feel like I just float through my days not caring what I do or where I go? Could it be a result of disappointment in my surroundings? Could it be I'm really just "tired" and need a rest? Am I coming down with something? Whatever the reason...I think it's time for me to admit that I need a little break. A break from the monotony of daily life. A break from commuting...from being encased in a cubical for 9 hours a day ( 9.5 if you count the days I eat lunch...also in my cubical)...from trying to come up with ways to save money (okay, spend less money) so Husband won't mention again how stretched we are now that we have become homeowners for a home that is too big for just the two of us...from arguing over navy blue, midnight blue, denim blue, or any other color blue...from shopping for things for which we have no intention of buying.

My break starts today and I am very excited.

Burned

At approximately 8:30am this morning I burned my shoulder blade on the coffee maker. How in the world did I do that, you might ask. Well, I will tell you.

Our coffee maker here at work is fairly industrial, like you would find at a gas station where there is a little red handle on the side that dispenses hot water. Since the coffee here is disgusting, if I do not bring my own, or stop at Starbucks, the only thing left for me to do is to drink tea in the mornings. Not a problem. I love tea. Hot or iced, either way I am satisfied (most of the time) with tea as my morning beverage of choice. So I got my little cup and filled it with some hot water. There were only two tea packets left in the little tray o' goodies that sits out on our counter (things like sugar, Equal, tea, and stirring sticks/straws are in this tray o' goodies). I was about to take tea bag #2 and thought, "I should re-fill the tray" since that's something I normally do...usually because I feel like it needs organizing most of the time and I like to arrange the various packets so they are all facing the same direction (a little OCD perhaps, but very pleasing to the eye). Someone had left a half empty box of tea on the counter in the corner so I reached back to get it. Apparently that hot water nozzle remains BLAZING HOT and drips water...I know because I apparently leaned into it not only burning my shoulder blade, but also getting myself all wet in the process. Awesome. Now I'm the burned wet weird girl in the office. Stellar Rach, stellar. I hope it didn't leave a mark, but I haven't checked because even though the people I am attempting to win over as friends aren't here yet...I know they would walk into the bathroom as I was checking out my back for burn marks...I'd rather the fine people at Panera walk in on my later this evening when I check in their bathroom before my dinner date arrives.

Last night Husband told me that I looked like I needed a day off...(like an extra day, not just my routine 9-80 day that I use to run errands) and told me to get myself a 4-day weekend...now I'm thinking he may have been on to something...I'm not right in the head...or back.

After telling a friend (and my dinner date for this evening) my troubles her response was, "I hope that you learned your lesson. Being a good person will always get you burned. Ha. Ha. I am awesome."

Nice.

Harry

Yes, I realize I am a little late to be jumping on the bandwagon, any bandwagon for that matter, in regards to Harry Potter. To tell you the truth, it is not none of the available "wagons" seem to suit me very well. I have been mulling over my feelings for the boy wizard since he first arrived on bookshelves many years ago. Being that the series falls into the genre of "sci-fi/fantasy" my interest was little to none in the early days since that is not my genre of choice.

Years past, and the movies started coming and the phenomenon escalated. People were starting to choose sides. Celebrating Potter for giving children motivation to read, or condemning Potter for the magical elements that the witches and wizards brought to the forefront of young children's minds. What strikes me most, however, was the infatuation many adults found themselves in...grabbing books from their children, not because they were concerned with the "filth" they were reading, but because they had such a strong desire to dive into the world of Harry Potter as well. How odd...when I was the same age as the Harry Potter target audience I found some of my favorite authors. Mark Twain, Jane Austen and Ann Rinaldi inspired me to read and more important to learn about the subject matter which they were addressing their their books. When we find good books isn't that what we do? We immerse ourselves in the world created by the author which sparks a desire to learn as much as we possibly can.

Here is where I begin to have my doubts with Harry Potter and his friends. The world that they are immersed in is full of light and dark, of good and evil, of "good" and "bad" witches and wizards...but the thing is, there is no such thing as a "good" witch or wizard. Magic of this nature is not of God and cannot be claimed as "good". Before I go any further, let me say that I recognize the use of magic in some Christian literature as well, namely in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, but I believe there is a difference. The focus of those books is not on the practices of the witches, but rather on the religious parallels drawn by the story at large. Lewis and Tolkien use elements of magic to create allegories and symbolism representing their faith to an audience that may have not been reached without their creativity. Meanwhile, Rowling herself has admitted that she carefully research the practice of the Wiccian religion so that her stories will be as "accurate" as possible for her audience.

I believe the turning point of my quest to develop an opinion surrounding the Harry Potter phenomenon happened at the theatre while seeing the most recent film. I happened upon a sight that struck me to my core, a young girl, elementary school age, dressed in a full Hogwarts uniform carrying a wand stepping out of the theatre with her parents. My heart dropped...a lump formed in my throat. Wow. THIS is what we should be afraid of...the desire of our children to be in Harry's world. To live amongst the witches and wizards, to learn spells and to long for mystical adventures.

That was the end. My copies of Harry Potter and the Scorcer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets have since been disposed of, and will not re-enter my personal library. If I am confident that my children should not be reading about this world, why should I waste my time reading about it either? Sometimes parents shield their children from things that are age-inappropriate for them to read/watch/listen to, but I am now a firm believer that Harry Potter does not involve a question of age, but a question of culture appropriateness. In my home, the culture of witches and wizards will not be glorified.

Please do not disregard my position on the basis that I have not read the books or given them "a fair chance" because that, simply, is not true. I have read the first two books of the series, and have watched all five of the movies that have been produced, to-date. It was not until I had read the books that I found any enjoyment out of the movies, and had actually made several attempts to watch the movies but found them, for me, unentertaining and confusing. That is when I decided to read the first book. I finished Harry Potter and the Scorcher's Stone in only a few weeks (yes, I realize this is much longer than the typical reader of this series) and rewatched the movie (third try is a charm was my thinking apparently). I was able to stay awake this time, something that could not be done the previous two attempts at watching this movie and found myself entertained and engaged. I then decided, that I would continue reading the series and watching the movies..."catching up" if you will. My journey has ended.

After many years of trying to digest this pop culture phenomenon, I believe I know where I fall which I feel is on a bandwagon of my own. I feel confident that I have not jumped to any conclusions, but have sought the guidance of God and inspiration from His people to form my personal opinion. I will not force my opinion on you, unless of course you use the counter-point argument that "it's just a movie" because look at the profiles of school shooting perpetrators, and other dysfunctional members of the young-adult society that claim their inspiration came from movies, video games, etc. Entertainment in its various forms IS influential, regardless of whether you believe it personally influences YOU or not. Perhaps you are not easily influenced, but did you ever think that your neighbor is just waiting for validation of his thoughts/actions, a validation that could quite possibly come from something a seemingly harmless as a children's movie?

Decade

It has officially been ten years since I met my husband. That seems like a really long time. Most people cannot say (unless they married high school sweethearts or something) that they have known their husband for ten years when they haven't even been married for two yet.

We spent a long time not thinking about dating...and then all the sudden our lives came together and within only a few days we knew this was exactly where we were supposed to be...Very comfortable, yet very unexpected. Good times. The story of how we got together is one most of our friends have heard (because they are patient and willing to listen to our long long history) and one which shows how little things can really be part of something much bigger in the end. Praise God for that!

In conclusion, I would like to give a shout-out to Camp Hope in Frostburg, MD for introducing me to the love of my life and being a crucial part of our journey together. Thanks =)

Motivation

I really did have an awesome Texas blog...but apparently it did not post. Sometimes Blogger fails me and I become sad....usually that's when I haven't chosen to copy my blog into a Word doc. or something similar to ensure it's survival to "post" mode. It's been far too long and now I do not remember my trip quite so well...other than the roads in Texas are ridiculous and no matter how many times Husband mentions "Oh I could live there!" I still cringe at the thought...

It's been entirely too long since I last blogged...perhaps because LOST is over for the season and I haven't been attempting to make sense of the show on a regular basis (although don't think that the wheels have stopped turning...maybe sometime this summer I'll make a gigantic post...we'll see.)

Really I think the reason for my disappearance is my lack of motivation. Why am I so un-motivated? Whether it be a lack of motivation to work, to read, to study, to blog, to go outside of the house...I feel surrounded by a lack of motivation. How can someone feel surrounded by a lack of, well, anything? It's a strange feeling...