Tuesday Beat: Boyz II Men - Dreams / 4 Seasons of Loneliness

Dreams


4 Seasons of Loneliness

Reflecting on Lent - Palm Sunday edition

As with service we shall start with the good.

One of my earliest memories is of me in church with my mother. Before she married my dad and before my sister was born. I was 2 or 3. We got to bring branches into church and sang a song that I hope to one day teach my children.

Palm Sunday has always been my favorite Sunday of the year because it leads up to the Christian New Year (Easter). Holy week for me is about really sitting down and examining where you are spiritually. This self examination is a lot harder for me than my usual New Year's review. Come Good Friday I take all my failings and lay them at the foot of the cross, thus I start the year anew and revived.

This Lenten season was a little harder than the other years. I gave up alcohol [no problem - even though I ended up at more open bars than I care to count] and self service. Self service was almost my undoing. I am now at 6 weeks [I started a week before Lent], though I almost caved in during week 2. Working out 3 days a week has helped with energy control. Spending time just talking to God has helped me to control thoughts a little better. I also spent time de-cluttering my life, pruning back the less productive vines and carefully tending to the rest. I want good qi flowing through my life.

When I get through this Lenten season, I feel that I will be a better person than when I started it. I am certainly a lot more disciplined.

Weekly Rundown

2 years of blogging and 300 posts later we find ourselves here.

• First up the librarian. I stopped by as planned and got a big ass grin from her when I walked through the door but there was a patron who would not leave. I went to another section to pick up a book to buy time (I have the digital version of it but shhh). By the time she was free I was in danger of being late for work but it was worth it. We chatted briefly and I finally asked her what her name was (7 weeks later). No I'd never asked. I told her mine and got this really cute smile out of her. Turns out she has wondered which name I go by since I have all my names on my ID. I know I sound like a sixteen year old, but I can help it.
• The job search continues, had a really good interview and am on to round 2. Evolving recommended that I check out the east coast for jobs with H-1 sponsorship opportunities so we'll see what we can find. It's been Business Continuity Awareness week and I've made some contacts in the field who work abroad and they've been great about sharing resources.
• The apple of my eye continues to grow and discover things. My sister got a new phone with a better speaker phone so my niece and I "chat" more often. I talk she listens then she makes baby noises and I listen. We can do this for a good 5 mins if she's fed and dry.
• Workout's kicking ass. I've had to up the intensity a bit because I am feeling extra frisky and there is still a whole week of Lent left. I walked 8.4 miles in 2h 23min on Tuesday which is roughly 3.5mph. That is a personal best for me.
• I forgot to add this last week. Kudos to Naomi on Skins' season finale last week (t'was my guilty pleasure) for bringing the story of her relationship with Emily [image above] full circle with the speech that made the episode . I quote

I've loved you from the first time I saw you; I think I was 12. It took me ... three years to pluck up the courage to speak to you. I was so scared of the way I felt; you know, loving a girl, that I became a sarcastic bitch just to make it feel normal. I screwed guys to make it go away, but it didn't work. When we got together it scared the sh-t out of me because you were the one person who could ruin my life.

I pushed you away. I made you think things were your fault, but really I was just terrified of pain. I screwed that girl Sophia to kind of spite you for having that hold on me. And I'm a total f--king coward because I got these ... these tickets for us for Goa three months ago.

But I couldn't stand ... I didn't want to be a slave to the way I feel about you. Can you understand? You were trying to punish me back, and it's horrible. It's so horrible because, really, I would die for you. I love you. I love you so much it is killing me.

Have a good weekend folks!

Tuesday Beat: Jill Scott - Golden & Jagged Edge - Lay You Down

Couldn't decide between the 2 so enjoy.
Jill Scott - Golden


Jagged Edge - Lay You Down

Weekly Rundown

Spring is here ... and so is the snow apparently.

• Thanks for all the votes of confidence. I've ordered my books so I shall be stopping by the library on Thursday and we'll see where the conversation takes us.
• I got to see my niece last Sunday -- technology is a beautiful thing. She is growing and the cutest thing ever. My niece got her passport in the mail last week. At 3 months she is following in the family footsteps. My sister was cleared to travel internationally at 1 month and I was at 2 months. Nono has actually been to more states thus far than some people that I've met (DC-VA-MD, PA, OH, OK).
• I got a new piercing this week. This one marks the beginning of my professional life. I've been wanting to do it for a while but didn't have the funding. As luck would have it I met someone in my program who is now an apprentice piercer and they needed test subjects so I got it for free. Did you know that nipple piercings are the most painful? Turns out they hurt more than that those "South of the Mason Dixon Line of your pants".
• 5 weeks into the workout program and we are still going strong. I've fallen off the bandwagon a couple of times but it's all good. I am beginning to see hints of definition. To get my piercing I had to take my shirt off and I must say I was not embarrassed to do it. I've never been prouder of my abs in training. Tomorrow we kick off stage 3 of the regimen and switch things up again. Did I mention that this idea of eating 6 times a day is crazy but effective. Like clockwork my body requires food every 3 hours.
• The week got off to a rocky start. I received 3 rejection letters on Monday ... all before lunch. The day itself ended well as I made the conscious decision to not become depressed by the job rejection emails. I'd only done one round of interviews for them all so it wasn't as bad a rejection. Going 3 rounds and then being rejected ... now that hurts. To my fellow job hunters I say stay strong, it only takes one yes for it all to be worth it.

Salut.