Dr. Martinez

I’ve been thinking about my college spanish professor a lot, and how much she might enjoy this story.

There are a lot of people I come into contact with who speak little to no English. I think it’s awesome, ’cause it gives me a chance to butcher Spanish, and try to communicate with them. We also have a ton of little kids come into our store, and that always brightens my day.

The perfect mix of course, is a spanish speaking 4 year old.

She walked right up to me and smiled so big, with her big brown eyes, and I smiled and said, “Hi! Se habla espanol?” Which, I don’t even know if that’s right.(@fezriel, is that right? Can I do twitters in a blog post? Did I just cause a hole in the space time continuum?)

Anyway, I said se habla espanol.

And she looked right up at me and grinned and said, “Yeah.”

Me gusta.

Mother’s Day is coming up.

There’s a line in a Gilmore Girl’s episode where sixteen-year-old Rory says,

“I need you, I need you here, I need you now, I cannot do this alone, I need my mommy and damn it, I don’t care who knows it!”

I second that.

sick day

i was having a weird day at work today. my feet hurt. i didn’t want to be there. i was missing people. i was zoning out and completely missing customers that walked in.

and then one of my coworkers called in sick. she sounded bad. bad bad. i talked to her when she called, i asked her if i could do anything for her. she said no. i told her i made amazing chicken noodle soup, and she laughed (did someone warn her about my cooking skills?!) and said no thanks, and i made sure she had my cell phone number and to call me if she needed something. but she laughed.

and i suddenly felt much better.

so much new.

new job.

new schedule.

new clothes.

new pay.

new language.

new aches.

new friends.

new insecurities.

new ways to make a fool of myself.

new opportunities to be a good employee.

new people to lead.

lots of new.

I, um…yeah.

Lately, I am a hermit.

Lots of changes in my life. Some painful. Some exhilarating. And the energy I can usually use to be a “hanger-outer”, well, it is sucked into the “trying to stay alive” part of me.

I quit my job 2 weeks ago. I needed a change. And Thursday afternoon, when I walked out of there, I was devastated. I love my job. But 5 years….5 years is a long time, and I knew, and I know in my heart, it was time for me to move on. I am still excited about things going on at RidgePoint. Changes are being made for the better, and I wish I could still be there day to day to see them all come to fruition.

I’ll still be around. I’m singing Sunday morning, for the first time in ages. I am very excited to be on stage with Gabe and Rebecca, and all the other amazingly talented musicians we have. I’m excited that my volunteers are so incredible. I’m excited about the opportunities they have now, to step up and really show what they’re made of. I hope soon they’ll call me, and I’ll get to volunteer for them.

Anyway, that’s me, and that’s why I’ve been so quiet lately.

Oh yeah, my new job. Well, it’s retail. It’s crazy, but I’ve always wanted to do it. I love the challenge of it, the people, the routines, the measurables. I love managing talented teams, and I can’t believe I get that opportunity again. I get to go back out, leave church world, and hopefully show some people that Christians aren’t weird. Well, yeah ok ok I hear you laughing. Yes, I am still weird. I’m still me after all. I’m just excited about the possibility of having some influence in people’s lives. People who aren’t in church every week.

So soon I should have some good stories. Maybe I’ll spruce up the blog.

Wish me luck.

Can I borrow someone’s baby?

I really need to clean my house.

(Sorry about the weird ad thing at the end of the video, I couldn’t find a clean version and Vimeo and WordPress aren’t playing well together…)

But someone is a freaking genius. Seriously.

I wonder if they make one I could attach to Puma…

Budget

I don’t know if you guys are feeling the economic crunch like I am.

Mostly it feels like that moment right before the roller coaster goes down the first huge hill, and you think to yourself, “Who talked me into this…?” If you know me, you know I edited gratuitous profanity out of that statement.

Anyway, last month at RPC we had a financial seminar, and I’ve been using Dave Ramsey’s budgeting system since then. I’ve always been good with money, but I’ve slacked off in the past few years. Ramsey encourages you to account for every cent of your income, allocating it before you even get the check, so you aren’t tempted to blow it on shtuff.

I’ve been budgeting this way since February 2nd, and I’ve been able to pay all of my bills, have some fun money for clothes and eating out, and put just over $600 in my savings account. How nuts is that? I never thought I’d be able to do that.

Feel free to share any tips or tricks you have with me. It’s kind of fun playing a management game with yourself.

Green M&Ms

Please tell me some of you have heard the story about green m&ms. Because no one in my circle, besides my mother, knows about them.

Green m&ms make you…well. They are an aphrodesiac, or so the story goes.

We were talking about it at church yesterday (yes, people talk about sex at church!) and people were looking at me like I had 3 heads when I told them about green m&ms.

But now, I have proof:

SEE?!?!?!!? SEE SEE SEE?

Told ya.

P.S. these are available at the 7-11 on Recker Hwy and Spirit Lake Rd. if you need to buy a bag for your significant other.

P.P.S. you’re welcome.

Calling all Dirty Girls…

I have not been so excited about something in a long, long time.

If you are female and you’ve been in church, I know you’re heard this, “Alright, listen up guys, this is for YOU! Let’s talk about pornography…“

I always roll my eyes heavily at this, because WOMEN DEAL WITH THIS TOO! Trust me. I know. AND, I know I’m not the only one who thinks and feels this way. In fact, almost every female my age that I know has seen porn privately and/or corporately, or struggled with an addiction to it.

I just found out about some studies being conducted by Crystal Renaud (www.pinkhairedgirl.net). She’s writing a book called Dirty Girls: The New Porn Addicts.

LADIES, If you are addicted to porn, used to be addicted to porn, or you know a female that struggles with porn, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take some time to go fill out a survey. All information is confidential and your identity will be protected. We have to empower ourselves with information, so share what you know. Don’t be scared! Don’t be ashamed!

Knowledge is power.

I filled out a survey and thought, “I’m doing this for my daughter, even though I don’t know her yet.”

Candy is Dandy

Part 3 of my awfully amazing poetry series, just in time for Valentine’s Day:

Walking With The Man

I walked a mile in his shoes;
The man was sad, I was the blues.

I walked a mile in his feet;
The man was tired, I was the beats.

I walked a mile in his socks;
The man was old, I was the rocks.