Okay, so this probably isn't anything to write home about, not really, but I finally have had an article accepted and published online. Will miracles never cease, it happened. To check my article out, head on over to Lazy Housewife, which if you saw my house right now, you would know why that site is so appropriate! LOL! I didn't choose the name of the article (Mother-in-Law from Mars,) or even know what they were going to publish it under before they did it, but beggers can't be choosers--my stuff has been published! :-D
Now I'm going to go take my $5 and celebrate by going wild and buying two packs of bubble gum at the store instead of one. Who knows, maybe if I get another article published, I'll be able to graduate up to candy bars! LOL!
Celebrating my victory, small as it may be,
Signed,
The published Hava
Monday, July 31, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
I'm in love with Books on CD
I work for a company that requires that I do some driving. I go from courthouse to courthouse, collecting records for an insurance company. I don't mind the work, but the driving is a toughie. I don't like to drive. Several reasons for my dislike: I got in a bad car accident as a junior in high school, so a part of me worries that I am going to fall asleep at the wheel again; secondly, I did a lot of driving in high school (I had to commute 45 minutes to get to school for three years) and I think I got my fill of driving then; and lastly but the most importantly, it is really boring. I cannot figure out how people like to drive. When you're on a freeway, all you do is set your cruise control to 75 mph (okay, fine, I set mine to 80, you caught me) and go in a forward motion. The only thing you have to do is make sure you don't run into the person in front of you. Not exactly thrilling beyond words.
This all changed when I discovered the world of Books on CD. I have my mother-in-law to thank for this wondrous discovery. She lent me The DaVinci Code on CD, and I started listening to it while in the truck, driving to a courthouse. I quickly got caught up in the story (as long as you consider the story to be fiction, it's a great entertaining read!) and I didn't want to stop driving! That is a first in Hava History. I am usually ready to jump out of the car 15 minutes after getting in. But that's because driving is so bloody boring. You can't read while you drive, you can't surf the internet while you drive. You can't write articles or paint your toenails or watch movies while you drive. You can't cross-stitch, cook dinner, or paint your masterpiece while you drive. And if you are doing those things while you drive, please tell me so I can avoid driving in your state.
But with Books on CDs, you CAN read while you drive!! This is fantastic! I am huge fan of reading; I absolutely love to read, but I never have enough time to. Here, finally, I can "read" while driving. I get to my destination and I want to keep driving, so I can finish the chapter! Will wonders never cease, I have learned to love to drive again.
I am now drooling over a set of CDs that I saw at Barnes & Noble. The whole series is called the Portable Professor Series, and the one in particular that I thought looked great was Jersulam: City of God, City of Fire. I love learning about Jerusalem after my trip there, and so I continue to drool over the series every time I walk into B&N.
In the meantime though, I'll be busy learning about Martin Luther King, Jr, my latest CD on book. I love learning, love to read, and now I love to drive.
How much better could life get?
Hava
This all changed when I discovered the world of Books on CD. I have my mother-in-law to thank for this wondrous discovery. She lent me The DaVinci Code on CD, and I started listening to it while in the truck, driving to a courthouse. I quickly got caught up in the story (as long as you consider the story to be fiction, it's a great entertaining read!) and I didn't want to stop driving! That is a first in Hava History. I am usually ready to jump out of the car 15 minutes after getting in. But that's because driving is so bloody boring. You can't read while you drive, you can't surf the internet while you drive. You can't write articles or paint your toenails or watch movies while you drive. You can't cross-stitch, cook dinner, or paint your masterpiece while you drive. And if you are doing those things while you drive, please tell me so I can avoid driving in your state.
But with Books on CDs, you CAN read while you drive!! This is fantastic! I am huge fan of reading; I absolutely love to read, but I never have enough time to. Here, finally, I can "read" while driving. I get to my destination and I want to keep driving, so I can finish the chapter! Will wonders never cease, I have learned to love to drive again.
I am now drooling over a set of CDs that I saw at Barnes & Noble. The whole series is called the Portable Professor Series, and the one in particular that I thought looked great was Jersulam: City of God, City of Fire. I love learning about Jerusalem after my trip there, and so I continue to drool over the series every time I walk into B&N.
In the meantime though, I'll be busy learning about Martin Luther King, Jr, my latest CD on book. I love learning, love to read, and now I love to drive.
How much better could life get?
Hava
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Follow the money trail...
I used to watch the Wizard of Oz growing up, and can still sing (as I imagine most Americans can) "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." But in this case, it is "Follow the Money Trail." Not quite as catchy, but much more applicable.
I hate scammers. Honestly, I just don't understand them. I have been talking about this a lot on here lately, but it's because this sort of thing strikes close to home, being in the work-from-home field like I am. It seems like almost every WAHM job out there is a scam. Luckily, the ratio isn't quite that high, but it is pretty out of whack.
One favorite is the scam where they post an ad, telling you that you are going to make $300-500 per week doing data entry from home. You don't need any training, they will train you online to do it, and all you need is to be honest and hard-working. They throw that in there hoping to throw you off the trail. After all, a scammer wouldn't be advertising for an honest and hard-working person. This must be legit! Another favorite is a constant harping on being a stay-at-home mom themselves, or being a Christian. A really smart scammer (or just one wanting to cover all of his/her bases) will include all three in their ad. You respond to the ad, happy at the thought of making $300-500 a week working part-time at a really flexible job, and the scammer replies telling you that in order to make sure that you are really excited and serious about this job, they are going to charge you a small processing fee. Truly, they don't want to do this, but they are forced to, because it costs them so much time and money and energy to have people ask for the job info and then never actually complete the job. They want to make sure you really want to do this. They are only going to charge you $5 or $10 or $20 for this information, but at $300-$500 a week, you can make that back in a day, very easily. I have even seen the ads go as high as $30. They stress that this is of course only a one time payment, but once you pay it, you don't get your money back.
You pay them your money, and in return, you get an e-mail with a Word document attached. It tells you in the document that the data entry job that you just paid money for is simply that you take the ad that you just responded to, and post it yourself all over the internet. You are entering data, yes, and now you are going to make money off the poor, unsuspecting souls who were as naive as you to take the bait. Isn't that just lovely? Simply marvelous.
I think that this scam started out with one person, posting this ad all over. Out of 100 people who took the bait and paid the money, 98 of them are upset and furious, but having no recourse, lick their wounds and slink away. 2 of them think well, I need to recoup the money that I spent, I better post this ad and at least get my money back. But then the money starts rolling in and the 2 people decide that instead, they are going to continue their scam. You now have 3 people posting these ads all over the place, and just a couple of their respondents think hey, I need to make my money back at least. The cycle just continues ad nauseum until now, if you go onto job boards like Craigs List, you will find 20-30 of these ads posted every single day, in every part of the country. It is like a bad disease that is spreading rapidly.
The medicine? Knowledge. Don't ever spend money to get a job. Follow the money trail. If the company makes their money off of you, the employee, instead of the client, then you have just unwittingly become the client. And if you are the client, then that means you just got scammed.
So the next time you are haunting the job boards, looking for the perfect job, remember as you read the listings: You've got the follow the money trail. It will never lie to you. I wish to heaven I could say the same thing about people.
Havs
I hate scammers. Honestly, I just don't understand them. I have been talking about this a lot on here lately, but it's because this sort of thing strikes close to home, being in the work-from-home field like I am. It seems like almost every WAHM job out there is a scam. Luckily, the ratio isn't quite that high, but it is pretty out of whack.
One favorite is the scam where they post an ad, telling you that you are going to make $300-500 per week doing data entry from home. You don't need any training, they will train you online to do it, and all you need is to be honest and hard-working. They throw that in there hoping to throw you off the trail. After all, a scammer wouldn't be advertising for an honest and hard-working person. This must be legit! Another favorite is a constant harping on being a stay-at-home mom themselves, or being a Christian. A really smart scammer (or just one wanting to cover all of his/her bases) will include all three in their ad. You respond to the ad, happy at the thought of making $300-500 a week working part-time at a really flexible job, and the scammer replies telling you that in order to make sure that you are really excited and serious about this job, they are going to charge you a small processing fee. Truly, they don't want to do this, but they are forced to, because it costs them so much time and money and energy to have people ask for the job info and then never actually complete the job. They want to make sure you really want to do this. They are only going to charge you $5 or $10 or $20 for this information, but at $300-$500 a week, you can make that back in a day, very easily. I have even seen the ads go as high as $30. They stress that this is of course only a one time payment, but once you pay it, you don't get your money back.
You pay them your money, and in return, you get an e-mail with a Word document attached. It tells you in the document that the data entry job that you just paid money for is simply that you take the ad that you just responded to, and post it yourself all over the internet. You are entering data, yes, and now you are going to make money off the poor, unsuspecting souls who were as naive as you to take the bait. Isn't that just lovely? Simply marvelous.
I think that this scam started out with one person, posting this ad all over. Out of 100 people who took the bait and paid the money, 98 of them are upset and furious, but having no recourse, lick their wounds and slink away. 2 of them think well, I need to recoup the money that I spent, I better post this ad and at least get my money back. But then the money starts rolling in and the 2 people decide that instead, they are going to continue their scam. You now have 3 people posting these ads all over the place, and just a couple of their respondents think hey, I need to make my money back at least. The cycle just continues ad nauseum until now, if you go onto job boards like Craigs List, you will find 20-30 of these ads posted every single day, in every part of the country. It is like a bad disease that is spreading rapidly.
The medicine? Knowledge. Don't ever spend money to get a job. Follow the money trail. If the company makes their money off of you, the employee, instead of the client, then you have just unwittingly become the client. And if you are the client, then that means you just got scammed.
So the next time you are haunting the job boards, looking for the perfect job, remember as you read the listings: You've got the follow the money trail. It will never lie to you. I wish to heaven I could say the same thing about people.
Havs
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A good cause
I had a friend who passed this link onto me. Rebecca Fortune is suffering from gastroparesis, which is where the stomach muscles do not work (they are literally paralysed) and so the food doesn't get digested. Since there is nowhere for new food to go, a patient with this condition will throw up when they eat again. This causes massive weight loss and will eventually cause death in extreme cases. For an in-depth explanation, please check this out.
Unfortunately, Rebecca has a very extreme case. She is also under the double-whammy of not having medical insurance. I personally don't have medical insurance, and sometimes I lay awake at night, petrified that something like this is going to happen to me. She needs to pay $30,000 for a surgery, and this will only happen through donations that you and I make. I am poor (no lottery winnings yet!) and therefore was only able to donate $5. I know it isn't much, but $5 is more than she had before. She lives here in the United States, but the gal who is collecting the donations for her lives in England, so the exchange rate is roughly 1 US dollar to .50 Pounds. All donations are accepted via PayPal, and PayPal will do the exchange for you, at no charge to you. It will ask you to donate in Pounds and then PayPal does the exchange, so if you donate $2.50 in Pounds, you are donating $5 in US dollars. I hope that made sense.
I am not one to usually go online and talk about causes this way, and I don't imagine that I'll ever do another blog like this. It isn't in me to ask for money, even if it is for other people. But something about this just struck my heart. Food and eating and dining out at restaurants is a huge given in most people's lives. Rebecca cannot enjoy any of that. She has been forced to stop eating, causing her to lose an extremely unhealthy amount of weight. There are probably people who look at her and think she is bulimic or that this is her choice. I cannot imagine trying to live with this condition. She cannot enjoy simple pleasures like eating chocolate or munching on an apple. She is literally being slowly starved to death. I cannot imagine how hard that has got to be to live with.
So, my generous readers, if you have a couple of dollars to spare, please send it Rebecca's way. And send some prayers heavenward--in the end, we've got to trust that God will work this out.
Havs
Unfortunately, Rebecca has a very extreme case. She is also under the double-whammy of not having medical insurance. I personally don't have medical insurance, and sometimes I lay awake at night, petrified that something like this is going to happen to me. She needs to pay $30,000 for a surgery, and this will only happen through donations that you and I make. I am poor (no lottery winnings yet!) and therefore was only able to donate $5. I know it isn't much, but $5 is more than she had before. She lives here in the United States, but the gal who is collecting the donations for her lives in England, so the exchange rate is roughly 1 US dollar to .50 Pounds. All donations are accepted via PayPal, and PayPal will do the exchange for you, at no charge to you. It will ask you to donate in Pounds and then PayPal does the exchange, so if you donate $2.50 in Pounds, you are donating $5 in US dollars. I hope that made sense.
I am not one to usually go online and talk about causes this way, and I don't imagine that I'll ever do another blog like this. It isn't in me to ask for money, even if it is for other people. But something about this just struck my heart. Food and eating and dining out at restaurants is a huge given in most people's lives. Rebecca cannot enjoy any of that. She has been forced to stop eating, causing her to lose an extremely unhealthy amount of weight. There are probably people who look at her and think she is bulimic or that this is her choice. I cannot imagine trying to live with this condition. She cannot enjoy simple pleasures like eating chocolate or munching on an apple. She is literally being slowly starved to death. I cannot imagine how hard that has got to be to live with.
So, my generous readers, if you have a couple of dollars to spare, please send it Rebecca's way. And send some prayers heavenward--in the end, we've got to trust that God will work this out.
Havs
Monday, July 17, 2006
I don't like water
When I was in junior high, there was a kid that was a year older than me, and much bigger than everyone else. He was a typical teenage boy in that he loved to be mean to anyone who would give him the satisfaction of giving him a response. I was never a huge fan of his (I didn't hate him, but I did do my best to avoid him,) but then one day, in the middle of summer, I got a phone call and they told me he had died. He had gone swimming in the Snake River and had gotten sucked under in the current. He was swimming next to a dam, and it was just too strong for even him, and he was a big, strong, athletic kid. When I heard the news, I went running outside and down the road and just bawled. I may not have liked him sometimes, but this just seemed unfair. I remember screaming at the heavens, "Why God?? Why did this have to happen??" It was the first time I had ever had to deal with an early and untimely death, and it was really rough on me.
Well, I just found out that a girl I used to babysit was killed this weekend, also a casualty of the Snake River. This is so hard for me--I can't even grasp that it is right. It doesn't feel like this could truly be happening. I went to this family's house every day, Monday through Friday, and watched Ashley and her two older brothers, for two summers. I was a part of the family. I did dishes, laundry, cleaned, watched the kids--we would go to the park and play, we would walk back to my house and play there. We would go outside and pet the horses--Ashley loved horses and was endlessly fascinated by them, even the onrey ones. She was only 4 years old the first summer, and 5 years old the second summer, so she was still just a young kid, but boy did we all have fun together. I really loved that family.
This article here talks about trying to find her body, and not being able to. I still just can't believe it's true. They came to my reception when I got married, I sent them postcards when traveling over in Jerusalem--this just isn't fair. Ashley was a good kid.
I have never been a huge fan of water. Last summer, I went floating down a fast-moving river with my family in intertubes, and I got knocked off of my intertube and couldn't get back on. I screamed bloody murder for probably 10 minutes because I was petrified at the thought of drowning. I would hate to die of course, but for me, I have always had this especially strong fear of drowning. I'm not sure why, but that fear is very, very strong. I have never been a great swimmer, and I have no desire to change that.
This happening, two people dying from drowning in the Snake River--you may never see me in a bathing suit again. I still just cannot fully comprehend it. Ashley was so much fun, and a good person. She wasn't perfect by any means, but I loved her a lot. Since I was at her house every day, all day long, some times she would slip up and call me Mom. She was a very special kid to me.
Anyway, thanks for listening, everyone. I just needed an outlet to talk.
Havs
Well, I just found out that a girl I used to babysit was killed this weekend, also a casualty of the Snake River. This is so hard for me--I can't even grasp that it is right. It doesn't feel like this could truly be happening. I went to this family's house every day, Monday through Friday, and watched Ashley and her two older brothers, for two summers. I was a part of the family. I did dishes, laundry, cleaned, watched the kids--we would go to the park and play, we would walk back to my house and play there. We would go outside and pet the horses--Ashley loved horses and was endlessly fascinated by them, even the onrey ones. She was only 4 years old the first summer, and 5 years old the second summer, so she was still just a young kid, but boy did we all have fun together. I really loved that family.
This article here talks about trying to find her body, and not being able to. I still just can't believe it's true. They came to my reception when I got married, I sent them postcards when traveling over in Jerusalem--this just isn't fair. Ashley was a good kid.
I have never been a huge fan of water. Last summer, I went floating down a fast-moving river with my family in intertubes, and I got knocked off of my intertube and couldn't get back on. I screamed bloody murder for probably 10 minutes because I was petrified at the thought of drowning. I would hate to die of course, but for me, I have always had this especially strong fear of drowning. I'm not sure why, but that fear is very, very strong. I have never been a great swimmer, and I have no desire to change that.
This happening, two people dying from drowning in the Snake River--you may never see me in a bathing suit again. I still just cannot fully comprehend it. Ashley was so much fun, and a good person. She wasn't perfect by any means, but I loved her a lot. Since I was at her house every day, all day long, some times she would slip up and call me Mom. She was a very special kid to me.
Anyway, thanks for listening, everyone. I just needed an outlet to talk.
Havs
Saturday, July 15, 2006
The $3000 check you should never cash
Hey, my momma responded!!! Hey Mom! Everyone wave at my mom--she's the one over there who looks an awful lot like me!!! :-D She used to go to parent-teacher conferences and the teachers would come up to her, "Oh, you must be Havilah's mom!" even though they had never even met her before. We just look that much alike. :-)
Okay, enough waving at the mom, I've got a serious rant coming on. I belong to the WAHM forum (WAHM = Work-at-Home Mom) and it seems like every day, people are posting "leads" and asking if this is a genuine job. This is a "lead" that was posted last night:
Wow. My jaw dropped when I read this. This jobs SCREAMS scam to me. There are so many things wrong with this, I don't even know where to start.
First of all, I am assuming that since this was a job for a company called "Secret Shoppers," I have to assume that you are supposed to do this job so you can evaluate the way that the Wal-Mart employees interacted with you. I have been looking at getting into mystery shopping, and let me tell you, there isn't a chance on this green earth that any legitimate MS company was going to pay you this kind of money ($200) to do a shop that would take all of 10 minutes. Strike number one.
Strike number two: MS companies have contracted to do a shop for a company (in this case, it would be Wal-Mart.) They have to make sure that they have shoppers that can cover the shop. They would not blindly send out checks to people, hoping that these people can do the shops by the deadline. If this really was a legitimate check for $3000 (which it most assuredly is not) then why would they take the chance that you will actually be home to do the shop?? It's the middle of summer. You could be gone for two weeks on vacation. They wouldn't send the check, THEN call you to make sure you could do the shop. That simply doesn't make any sense at all.
Strike number three: $2045 + $75 does not equal $3000. If the company cannot do even simple math like that, then they obviously have something wrong with them. I don't do well with math, and I can see that there's a problem there, sans a calculator. That really says something.
Strike number four: If the company really was going to pay you $200 to do a 10 minute shop (bwaahhhahahaha!!!!) then why wouldn't they just send you a check for $200 and tell you to cash that? Why go through this whole elaborate shenanigan?
Why? Because this is a scam. Scams rely on one thing every time: People making hasty decisions. You get this check. It is staring you in the face. $3000 right there. An extremely easy way to make $200. Do it! Do it! Phone calls from people, "Are you going to do this? Here is my sup's number. Call! We're legit! We need to know if you're going to do this! Tell us your decision!" A legitimate company would not need to pressure you like that.
No decision should ever be made hastily when it comes to $3000. The need for haste, the need for pressure, comes because the company knows that if you sit down and think about what is going on, think this through logically, then you are going to see all of the problems associated with this "job" and go running in the other direction. They don't want to give you that chance to think. As I told my hubby last night, there is a better chance of aliens landing in our front yard, a tornado hitting our backyard, lightning hitting our house and an earthquake hitting our truck, simultaneously! than this being an actual job.
There is a happy ending. I posted my thoughts, and the original poster responded:
At least this is one work-at-home mom who won't be taken for a ride. The next time you think you might be on the receiving end of a scam, stop, put the check out of sight, turn off your phone, and just THINK. Think it through logically. Scams don't stand up against the Think Test. It is my theory that there are 17 people in this world who have come up with all of these scams, and they are just perpetuating them all over the internet. There are thousands of scams out there, so you would think that there are thousands of scammers, but I really think there are only 17. I originally said 2, but Doug negotiated me up to 17. Don't make those 17 people's lives any easier.
Here's to ridding the world of those 17 and going back to living in peace and prosperity!
Havs
Okay, enough waving at the mom, I've got a serious rant coming on. I belong to the WAHM forum (WAHM = Work-at-Home Mom) and it seems like every day, people are posting "leads" and asking if this is a genuine job. This is a "lead" that was posted last night:
"I Received a letter in the mail today with a check for over $3000.00 from Secret Shoppers. I am suppose to go to Walmart and send a MoneyGram for the amt of $2945.00 and the serv. chrg of 75.00. And I will be pd 200 for training.
"I have 48 hours to do this. Today is Friday , with a check that is over two thousand dollars it takes a few days to clear. Has anyone done this before? I have been called twice to check if I rec. the info. from someone from the company. She even gave me a suprevisor name and number."
Wow. My jaw dropped when I read this. This jobs SCREAMS scam to me. There are so many things wrong with this, I don't even know where to start.
First of all, I am assuming that since this was a job for a company called "Secret Shoppers," I have to assume that you are supposed to do this job so you can evaluate the way that the Wal-Mart employees interacted with you. I have been looking at getting into mystery shopping, and let me tell you, there isn't a chance on this green earth that any legitimate MS company was going to pay you this kind of money ($200) to do a shop that would take all of 10 minutes. Strike number one.
Strike number two: MS companies have contracted to do a shop for a company (in this case, it would be Wal-Mart.) They have to make sure that they have shoppers that can cover the shop. They would not blindly send out checks to people, hoping that these people can do the shops by the deadline. If this really was a legitimate check for $3000 (which it most assuredly is not) then why would they take the chance that you will actually be home to do the shop?? It's the middle of summer. You could be gone for two weeks on vacation. They wouldn't send the check, THEN call you to make sure you could do the shop. That simply doesn't make any sense at all.
Strike number three: $2045 + $75 does not equal $3000. If the company cannot do even simple math like that, then they obviously have something wrong with them. I don't do well with math, and I can see that there's a problem there, sans a calculator. That really says something.
Strike number four: If the company really was going to pay you $200 to do a 10 minute shop (bwaahhhahahaha!!!!) then why wouldn't they just send you a check for $200 and tell you to cash that? Why go through this whole elaborate shenanigan?
Why? Because this is a scam. Scams rely on one thing every time: People making hasty decisions. You get this check. It is staring you in the face. $3000 right there. An extremely easy way to make $200. Do it! Do it! Phone calls from people, "Are you going to do this? Here is my sup's number. Call! We're legit! We need to know if you're going to do this! Tell us your decision!" A legitimate company would not need to pressure you like that.
No decision should ever be made hastily when it comes to $3000. The need for haste, the need for pressure, comes because the company knows that if you sit down and think about what is going on, think this through logically, then you are going to see all of the problems associated with this "job" and go running in the other direction. They don't want to give you that chance to think. As I told my hubby last night, there is a better chance of aliens landing in our front yard, a tornado hitting our backyard, lightning hitting our house and an earthquake hitting our truck, simultaneously! than this being an actual job.
There is a happy ending. I posted my thoughts, and the original poster responded:
Thank you all for your help and comments. I plan on taking this check to the bank that it is endorsed from and take to my local police dept. this is so sad and unfortunately how many people have they hurt. We are all looking for legit jobs to feed our families and its companies and people like this that make us suffer the most. Thanks to having caring people such as you all to look out for one another.
THANKS SOOOOOOOOO MUCH...
At least this is one work-at-home mom who won't be taken for a ride. The next time you think you might be on the receiving end of a scam, stop, put the check out of sight, turn off your phone, and just THINK. Think it through logically. Scams don't stand up against the Think Test. It is my theory that there are 17 people in this world who have come up with all of these scams, and they are just perpetuating them all over the internet. There are thousands of scams out there, so you would think that there are thousands of scammers, but I really think there are only 17. I originally said 2, but Doug negotiated me up to 17. Don't make those 17 people's lives any easier.
Here's to ridding the world of those 17 and going back to living in peace and prosperity!
Havs
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
I love my job, I honestly do!
I love my Primary children. I know I complain about them a lot on here, but I do want you to know that this is just my way of venting. I wouldn’t trade my job for the world. My husband and I have been married for 4 years (we got married in the Idaho Falls Temple in April of 2002) and have yet to be blessed with any children. Since my family and his all seem to have the goal of single-handedly repopulating the Earth, this makes us feel distinctly out of place at times, like we crawled out from under a rock and was somehow made a part of two families who then had no idea what to do with us. At one point, my sister and my two sister-in-laws were all pregnant at the same time. The only thing Doug and I have contributed to the family tree is two dogs, and despite my best persuasive argument, my parents just don’t see grand puppies on the same level as grandchildren. I tried pointing out the family resemblance, but for some unknown reason, that didn’t endear my parents any more to the thought.
But despite our apparent inability to have children, I am still okay because I have my kids in church. I have children that I have seen grow up for the last 4 years, and I feel almost like a second mother to them. They run up to me on Sunday and say, “Sister Lyon, Sister Lyon, look at the scratch on my hand!” I ohh and ahh over their scratches and their drawings and their stories about their newest toy that their parents wouldn’t let them take to church, and somehow in the midst of all of that, I have been blessed with the capacity to love them all, even the difficult ones like Christopher. I love to receive drawings on Sunday and big hugs and I even get to enjoy many of the kids during Sacrament Meeting. The kids all know that I carry a huge box of crayons with me to church on Sunday (96 count, no weasely 12 count for me) and that I have an endless supply of paper, so I will usually get 2-4 kids snuggling with me during Sacrament Meeting while their parents get to take a well-deserved break.
I love my job and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Just don't make me take Christopher home with me.
But despite our apparent inability to have children, I am still okay because I have my kids in church. I have children that I have seen grow up for the last 4 years, and I feel almost like a second mother to them. They run up to me on Sunday and say, “Sister Lyon, Sister Lyon, look at the scratch on my hand!” I ohh and ahh over their scratches and their drawings and their stories about their newest toy that their parents wouldn’t let them take to church, and somehow in the midst of all of that, I have been blessed with the capacity to love them all, even the difficult ones like Christopher. I love to receive drawings on Sunday and big hugs and I even get to enjoy many of the kids during Sacrament Meeting. The kids all know that I carry a huge box of crayons with me to church on Sunday (96 count, no weasely 12 count for me) and that I have an endless supply of paper, so I will usually get 2-4 kids snuggling with me during Sacrament Meeting while their parents get to take a well-deserved break.
I love my job and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Just don't make me take Christopher home with me.
Troublesome Children
What do you do with the children that test your patience to the limits? Not just push the boundaries every once in a while, but out and out push you to the max? I have had the *ahem* great joy of dealing with several children who do just that.
One of my children in Primary that has pushed me past any previously known boundaries is Christopher. Chris is your typical preteen boy--he loves to push the envelope, he loves to cause problems, he has zero interest in the topic at hand, and his pride and joy in life comes from figuring out the absolute best way to wreak the absolute most havoc in the absolute least amount of time. His tricks include yanking chairs out from underneath children as they went to sit down, getting up and stealing the visual aides and running off down the hallway with them, pulling on girls’ hair, raising his hand to answer the question and then instead of answering why he loves Jesus, going off on the statistics that he got on his video game that morning. He would frequently say (usually in the middle of me speaking) “Is it time to go home yet?” He would sing the words to the songs, but not the words that we were teaching him…on and on and on.
My first strategy was to just ignore him. If I ignored him, maybe he would get bored from the lack of attention, and instead find some other way to pass his time. He did, unfortunately, do just that, and the “other ways” that he found ended up being even more disruptive and destructive than his previous antics. Ignoring was not an option.
I tried sitting him in time-out--didn’t work. I tried talking to his mom--she didn’t do a thing. I tried giving him his very own notebook to draw in while the lesson was being taught, and although that worked for a couple of weeks, he quickly got bored and started back into his old habits.
So how did I deal with Christopher causing so many problems? Easy--I simply waited for him to graduate from Primary, thus passing the buck on to the Young Mens. At the time, this was a sound strategy, guaranteed not to fail. Time does steadily tick on, and some day (May of 2005 to be exact) Christopher was going to turn 12, thus advancing him from Primary to Young Mens. Unfortunately, my hubby got called into Young Mens almost directly after Christopher graduated from Primary, dumping the problem entirely into his lap. So now my hubby spends his Sundays complaining about Christopher, just as I used to spend mine. I just nod and smile.
Life is good.
One of my children in Primary that has pushed me past any previously known boundaries is Christopher. Chris is your typical preteen boy--he loves to push the envelope, he loves to cause problems, he has zero interest in the topic at hand, and his pride and joy in life comes from figuring out the absolute best way to wreak the absolute most havoc in the absolute least amount of time. His tricks include yanking chairs out from underneath children as they went to sit down, getting up and stealing the visual aides and running off down the hallway with them, pulling on girls’ hair, raising his hand to answer the question and then instead of answering why he loves Jesus, going off on the statistics that he got on his video game that morning. He would frequently say (usually in the middle of me speaking) “Is it time to go home yet?” He would sing the words to the songs, but not the words that we were teaching him…on and on and on.
My first strategy was to just ignore him. If I ignored him, maybe he would get bored from the lack of attention, and instead find some other way to pass his time. He did, unfortunately, do just that, and the “other ways” that he found ended up being even more disruptive and destructive than his previous antics. Ignoring was not an option.
I tried sitting him in time-out--didn’t work. I tried talking to his mom--she didn’t do a thing. I tried giving him his very own notebook to draw in while the lesson was being taught, and although that worked for a couple of weeks, he quickly got bored and started back into his old habits.
So how did I deal with Christopher causing so many problems? Easy--I simply waited for him to graduate from Primary, thus passing the buck on to the Young Mens. At the time, this was a sound strategy, guaranteed not to fail. Time does steadily tick on, and some day (May of 2005 to be exact) Christopher was going to turn 12, thus advancing him from Primary to Young Mens. Unfortunately, my hubby got called into Young Mens almost directly after Christopher graduated from Primary, dumping the problem entirely into his lap. So now my hubby spends his Sundays complaining about Christopher, just as I used to spend mine. I just nod and smile.
Life is good.
Times flies when you're having...
...well, fun would be a stretch, but how about working your tail off? I think that more accurately describes my current life. I am juggling about 17 things right now, and every once in a while, a plate comes crashing down and hits me hard on the head. I am getting this permanent bruise going on up there, and someday, I'm going to learn to wear a hard hat. Difficult to fit headphones over, but I'll give it my best shot.
But anyhow, I put some blogs together because I was trying to apply for a job working as a blogger (how great would that be!) but the company has not responded yet, and this was sent into them on Monday. They usually respond within the day. So I think that it's a no go. But I can't let these perfectly good blogs go to waste! (Yes, I also save all of my leftovers from dinner, only to have to throw them out three months later when aliens from space come into my kitchen, looking to reclaim their own. What's your point?) I was putting together blogs about being a Primary President (the blog I was applying for was Families.com and they actually have an LDS section, with a subsection for Primary) and although I wasn't going to post any LDS content on this blog, I am much too lazy to see all of this work go to waste. For those of you who are not LDS/Mormon, the Primary is simply the organization for the children in the congregation. The Primary President is the person in charge of all of the little munchkins who do their best every Sunday to remind all of the adults that Thou Shalt Not Kill is one of the 10 Commandments. Having said that, here's the first of three...
When I first got called to be the Primary President, I thought for sure the Bishop had lost it. After all, I had to be one of the youngest Primary Presidents to ever be called--wasn’t there some sort of age limit that kept 22 years old from being Primary Presidents??
Although I was in shock, a small part of me had known this was coming. When my husband and I got married and moved from Logan, Utah to Blackfoot, Idaho, I was called to be the Primary Music Leader within a month of us buying our house. I filled that calling until the Primary Presidency was rearranged, at which point I was called to be second counselor in the Presidency. I was in shock when I got that calling, because I figured only incredibly talented and loving and perfect people could be in a Primary Presidency. Why were they calling me?
I found out much later (when I was being called to be Primary President, actually) that Sis. Yancey, who called me to be her second counselor, had actually had just as many doubts about me becoming her second counselor as I had had doubts about me becoming her second counselor. In fact, she argued with the Lord and told him that she didn’t want me to be her second counselor. And then the Lord told her that I was going to be the next Primary President, and it was Sis Yancey’s job to teach me how to do that.
Luckily for both of us, Sis Yancey kept all of this a secret. I imagine if I had been told that I was going to be the next Primary President when I was being called to be the second counselor, I probably would have gone running screaming in the other direction. I probably would have had my house sold by the end of the week and made the move to China by the end of the month. I just wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility at that point.
In fact, I didn’t feel ready for that kind of responsibility when I actually did receive the call to be President. Luckily the Lord knows me and all of my shortcomings, and He knew that He couldn’t just throw something like this at me. In the months before Sis Yancey’s move to New Zealand, I would have random thoughts pop into my head: “I will handle that (situation) differently when I am in charge.” Or, “When Sis Yancey leaves, it will be up to me to keep things going.” Then I would draw back and think, “Where on Earth did that thought come from?? I’m not going to be in charge. Sis Yancey isn’t going to leave.”
But she did leave, she moved across the world, leaving a mighty huge gap in the Primary structure. The first counselor moved at almost exactly the same time to Las Vegas, leaving me the only one left in the Primary Presidency.
So when the Bishop asked me to talk to him “real quick” in his office, I had an inkling of what would happen. Deep down, I knew that I was going to be the next Primary President. I just ignored that knowledge and instead clung to the idea that they would magically find somebody else to do the job. Anybody else. I was too young, and too dumb, and too unorganized, and too…everything to do something like this. I had no children of my own--certainly that was some sort of requirement to become a Primary President
And yet, I have not only survived these last two years, I have thrived. Through the Lord, everything is possible, and I am living proof of that.
But anyhow, I put some blogs together because I was trying to apply for a job working as a blogger (how great would that be!) but the company has not responded yet, and this was sent into them on Monday. They usually respond within the day. So I think that it's a no go. But I can't let these perfectly good blogs go to waste! (Yes, I also save all of my leftovers from dinner, only to have to throw them out three months later when aliens from space come into my kitchen, looking to reclaim their own. What's your point?) I was putting together blogs about being a Primary President (the blog I was applying for was Families.com and they actually have an LDS section, with a subsection for Primary) and although I wasn't going to post any LDS content on this blog, I am much too lazy to see all of this work go to waste. For those of you who are not LDS/Mormon, the Primary is simply the organization for the children in the congregation. The Primary President is the person in charge of all of the little munchkins who do their best every Sunday to remind all of the adults that Thou Shalt Not Kill is one of the 10 Commandments. Having said that, here's the first of three...
When I first got called to be the Primary President, I thought for sure the Bishop had lost it. After all, I had to be one of the youngest Primary Presidents to ever be called--wasn’t there some sort of age limit that kept 22 years old from being Primary Presidents??
Although I was in shock, a small part of me had known this was coming. When my husband and I got married and moved from Logan, Utah to Blackfoot, Idaho, I was called to be the Primary Music Leader within a month of us buying our house. I filled that calling until the Primary Presidency was rearranged, at which point I was called to be second counselor in the Presidency. I was in shock when I got that calling, because I figured only incredibly talented and loving and perfect people could be in a Primary Presidency. Why were they calling me?
I found out much later (when I was being called to be Primary President, actually) that Sis. Yancey, who called me to be her second counselor, had actually had just as many doubts about me becoming her second counselor as I had had doubts about me becoming her second counselor. In fact, she argued with the Lord and told him that she didn’t want me to be her second counselor. And then the Lord told her that I was going to be the next Primary President, and it was Sis Yancey’s job to teach me how to do that.
Luckily for both of us, Sis Yancey kept all of this a secret. I imagine if I had been told that I was going to be the next Primary President when I was being called to be the second counselor, I probably would have gone running screaming in the other direction. I probably would have had my house sold by the end of the week and made the move to China by the end of the month. I just wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility at that point.
In fact, I didn’t feel ready for that kind of responsibility when I actually did receive the call to be President. Luckily the Lord knows me and all of my shortcomings, and He knew that He couldn’t just throw something like this at me. In the months before Sis Yancey’s move to New Zealand, I would have random thoughts pop into my head: “I will handle that (situation) differently when I am in charge.” Or, “When Sis Yancey leaves, it will be up to me to keep things going.” Then I would draw back and think, “Where on Earth did that thought come from?? I’m not going to be in charge. Sis Yancey isn’t going to leave.”
But she did leave, she moved across the world, leaving a mighty huge gap in the Primary structure. The first counselor moved at almost exactly the same time to Las Vegas, leaving me the only one left in the Primary Presidency.
So when the Bishop asked me to talk to him “real quick” in his office, I had an inkling of what would happen. Deep down, I knew that I was going to be the next Primary President. I just ignored that knowledge and instead clung to the idea that they would magically find somebody else to do the job. Anybody else. I was too young, and too dumb, and too unorganized, and too…everything to do something like this. I had no children of my own--certainly that was some sort of requirement to become a Primary President
And yet, I have not only survived these last two years, I have thrived. Through the Lord, everything is possible, and I am living proof of that.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
MalePregnancy.com??
Okay, I need help here. I was doing a transcription file tonight, and a teacher was talking about how he is trying to teach his students that you cannot always believe everything that you see on the Internet. And he uses www.MalePregnancy.com as his example. Of course, I instantly had to stop transcribing and go look this site up, because curiosity killed the cat, that just sounded very--intriguing? Bizarre? Strange? All of the above.
Anyway, the site isn't a thrown together, hack site that is obviously a fake. Instead, it looks frightening real. Was the world spinning a little faster than I thought it was, and we do now have a male that is pregnant? That doesn't seem possible, but somebody sure has spent a lot of money putting a website together that looks incredibly realistic.
I just wanted to see if any of my astute and intelligent *wink* readers could help me out here. Fact or fiction?
Havs
Anyway, the site isn't a thrown together, hack site that is obviously a fake. Instead, it looks frightening real. Was the world spinning a little faster than I thought it was, and we do now have a male that is pregnant? That doesn't seem possible, but somebody sure has spent a lot of money putting a website together that looks incredibly realistic.
I just wanted to see if any of my astute and intelligent *wink* readers could help me out here. Fact or fiction?
Havs
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
I'm an old woman
No, truly, I am. I know that my driver's license only says I'm 25, but nights like this make me feel much older. The hubby and I walked over to the lake where the fireworks were going to be set off, and had quite the night. There was a live band at the park which sounded like they were trying to be in direct competition with Jimmy Hendricks minus the ability to play a guitar or sing well. They didn't play any patriotic songs at all, and when the fireworks started, they didn't stop. Their music wasn't in any way related to the fireworks, it didn't correspond with it or crescendo/decrescendo with it, but instead it was almost like there were two concerts going on at the same time--one a boring fireworks display and one a discordant rendition of Sweet Home Alabama. They finally quit about 10 minutes in to the fireworks starting, and I'm not sure if that helped, because then all you heard was either the boom of the fireworks (when you were lucky) or the group of teenagers sitting close by who were all flirting and laughing (when you were unlucky.)
As the fireworks exploded overhead, my mind wandered. I mentally put together a to-do list for tomorrow. I wondered how my dogs were doing at home (they abhor loud noises, which makes the 4th of July the worst sort of torture for them.) I went over items that I wanted to cover on my WAHMJobs.net website. And then I would think, "Oh yeah, there's fireworks going off up there." I would glance at the exploding red, blue, and white display in the sky and before I even had a chance to register what I was seeing, I was back to mentally rearranging my front yard's flower beds.
Pretty soon my mental meanderings were interrupted by yet another group of teenagers. I thought the ones sitting next to us who were all flirting and laughing and talking incessantly were pretty bad, but they were nothing in comparison to the group who came walking up behind us. Two of the members of this preteen group were in some sort of heated argument, and I would quote that argument for you, but 95% of the words in that argument were pretty nasty swear words, unrepeatable by any standards. I leaned over and whispered in Doug's ear, "Are we sure we want to have kids?" He whispered back, "No," and I laughed. The soon-to-be juvenile delinquents (they very well could be delinquents now, but they are too young to be considered juveniles) wandered off after a while, and I did my best to concentrate on the admittedly very boring fireworks display still going on overhead. This year's showing was nothing to write home about, to state it politely.
I whispered to Doug, "I think I am an old woman." He whispered back, "You want to go?" God bless him, he is just amazing. I would have given my eye teeth to be able to leave just then. We stood up and started walking home. About a 100 feet down the path towards home, the finale began. We stopped and turned and watched it together, snuggled arm in arm with each other. The finale only lasted about 20 seconds, and then we turned and walked home together.
I may be an old woman, but at least I married an old man. We can be the youngest old couple to ever walk the Earth.
Hand me my cane, will ya? I've got some teenage kids I need to go thump some good manners in to.
As the fireworks exploded overhead, my mind wandered. I mentally put together a to-do list for tomorrow. I wondered how my dogs were doing at home (they abhor loud noises, which makes the 4th of July the worst sort of torture for them.) I went over items that I wanted to cover on my WAHMJobs.net website. And then I would think, "Oh yeah, there's fireworks going off up there." I would glance at the exploding red, blue, and white display in the sky and before I even had a chance to register what I was seeing, I was back to mentally rearranging my front yard's flower beds.
Pretty soon my mental meanderings were interrupted by yet another group of teenagers. I thought the ones sitting next to us who were all flirting and laughing and talking incessantly were pretty bad, but they were nothing in comparison to the group who came walking up behind us. Two of the members of this preteen group were in some sort of heated argument, and I would quote that argument for you, but 95% of the words in that argument were pretty nasty swear words, unrepeatable by any standards. I leaned over and whispered in Doug's ear, "Are we sure we want to have kids?" He whispered back, "No," and I laughed. The soon-to-be juvenile delinquents (they very well could be delinquents now, but they are too young to be considered juveniles) wandered off after a while, and I did my best to concentrate on the admittedly very boring fireworks display still going on overhead. This year's showing was nothing to write home about, to state it politely.
I whispered to Doug, "I think I am an old woman." He whispered back, "You want to go?" God bless him, he is just amazing. I would have given my eye teeth to be able to leave just then. We stood up and started walking home. About a 100 feet down the path towards home, the finale began. We stopped and turned and watched it together, snuggled arm in arm with each other. The finale only lasted about 20 seconds, and then we turned and walked home together.
I may be an old woman, but at least I married an old man. We can be the youngest old couple to ever walk the Earth.
Hand me my cane, will ya? I've got some teenage kids I need to go thump some good manners in to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
