Commitment is something that I take pretty seriously. I believe in commitment in all aspects of life, not just relationships (although that is incredibly important). If I say that I’m going to do something, I do it no matter what it takes. If I know that someone else is counting on me to stick to my commitment, I will get it done.  I’m not good with making excuses. I don’t really do mere lip service to things. In that regard, I’m probably one of the most loyal people you could hope to meet. Give me a task and there is no doubt that it will get done.

I just don’t really understand people who can’t commit to something when they say they will. It’s especially bad when other people are counting on that commitment.

As with most of my rants these days, you can probably see where I’m going with this. Where else but school issues?

Again, I find myself working on one of those lovely group papers that I am always so overjoyed about working on. This particular group has been a mess from the beginning. No one meets when they say they will and on top of that, the stuff they choose to turn in is always riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes. Last time I checked, we were in grad school. We should have spelling and grammar under control by now.

 One particular woman in this group has been the bane of my existence.  She is late with everything and always has excuses why she can’t work under the conditions that everyone else in the group was able to work under. It’s so frustrating. Her particular excuse was that she had another paper to work on and couldn’t possibly work on ours. I have three papers due this week in three different classes and I was able to get all of those finished on time. Grrr!

I am three weeks away from this all being behind me. Three weeks. Three. Weeks. Please let me get through these three weeks without coming to the end of my fuse. That would just be bad news all around.

All the political going ons this week have made me want to bury my head in a pillow while screaming “Lalala, I can’t hear you!” I had problems with the health care bill but it has passed and I accept that. I am hopeful that Congress will actually make good on their promise to fix some of the potential issues with the bill. Though, my real issue stems from all of the political fighting going on.

Sending death threats to Congress people? Seriously? You think that’s going to do anything other than get you in trouble with the law man and have the label of “crazy” thrust upon your head? People usually don’t react well to threats…

On top of that, both major parties have blamed each other for the violence and threats. I have news for both parties: every time you draw attention to threats that have been made and point at the other side, the proverbial three fingers point back at you.

Don’t get me wrong; I think it is totally okay to be upset with what’s going on and it’s okay to express that anger. One should just try to express it in a healthy way as with any anger.

I’ve always been one for being political active. Even with as much as politics generally irk me these days, I still believe that it’s important to be politically aware. If you take issue with the way things are going or take issue with the people that are taking issue, do something about it.

Political things you can do without looking like an idiot:

-Give money to your favorite candidate or Political Action Committee.

- Go work on a campaign.

- Sign a petition.

- Go wave signs about your cause someplace.

- Write a blog about it.

- Join your favorite political party and get active in your community

- Join a cause you care about.

These are small actions but they have the power to do a lot more good than ugly words can.

I have three pieces of jewelry that I wear every day. I wear my engagement ring on my left hand. I wear my grandma’s engagement ring that I inherited when she passed on my right hand.  I also wear a charm bracelet. It’s one of the ones that you put beads on and I absolutely love it.

I went home this weekend and on Saturday, I went downtown with my mom and sisters to shop around. I bought a few more charms for my charm bracelet. One was a hanging charm with the word “lucky” on it. It’s very fitting.

I am incredibly lucky.

Last week was a little rough. I was bombarded with old memories, good and bad, that I hadn’t thought about in awhile. The brain is truly an amazing thing. It has a way of storing memories up so that you have them exactly when you need them. Some of the memories made me a bit nostalgic and others made me laugh a little bit. While it has sometimes been painful to look back, memories are a gift. You can see where you’ve been and have a hint of where you’re going.

We all are given a lifetime in which to do what we want with it. A lifetime can be a smaller amount of time than it seems. You can waste it or you can make something of it. Each day is a new choice and a new chance for change, for staying the same, for moving forward or backward. To have that choice is a gift.

Don’t think for one second that you can simply take your life for granted or anyone else’s for that matter. We never know how much time we ourselves will get or how much time we will get with those around us. Time is fleeting. You can fear it or embrace it and make the best of what time we are given.

It’s an amazing thing.

To you that keeps coming from R’s site; I’d probably love to talk to you right now whoever you are. Message me here or find me on Facebook.

I was hit hard yesterday with some news that I never ever expected. I think that I’m probably still in shock. I’m pretty upset and just sad; really, really sad. I think I need a break from here for awhile. I don’t know how long that break will be. It may be a day, a few days or a week. I just need some time to gather my thoughts.

So as to not scare anyone: I’m fine, the Architect is fine, my family is fine. It was just other news that I am so not ready to talk about right now.

So I’ll see you all when I see you.

If you haven’t caught the drift from my blog lately, things have been a little bit busy for me as of late. They’ve also been quite busy for the Architect. Work and school have been insane for me. Work has been insane for him and he has a big licensure test to take this week, getting him just a bit closer to being a full architect. Things probably are not going to slow down for either of us until May.

Just about every night this week, we’ve come home and talked about all of the stuff we’re going to be able to do when May gets here. We talk about going camping and doing things outside. Even the mundane things like reading books and watching movies become May’s Holy Grails.

It’s simple stuff but stuff to look forward to all the same. We’ll get there eventually. It’s nice to have someone to struggle along with even if we are still struggling.

I’ve been running into a lack of accountability lately. It’s mostly with school and classmates right now. One of the most frustrating things to me about working with other people is having other people be accountable for their actions. It’s very easy to make excuses and just float along with the current. I probably could have gotten through college and grad school that way as well.

It can take a lot to be accountable. I understand that for a lot of people, accountability does not come easily. It means being able to admit your faults, your misdeeds and anything you may have dropped along the way. One would think that at some point in our lives, it would become easier to just be accountable for ourselves. As with maturity, I don’t think that accountability necessarily comes with age.

Case and point, last week, I and the rest of one of my class teams received an angry letter from a member of our team talking about how we were being unfair to her and how we needed to work together better and all of this other stuff. She had missed several meetings and blamed the rest of the team for not being flexible to her schedule. In reality, we were very flexible and the other three team members, myself included were all able to meet on time every time. This woman made all sorts of excuses about why she couldn’t be there and why she couldn’t get things done in time.

Excuses just don’t go over well with me at all. With all of her excuses, saying that she just forgot or something would have been better than anything else she spit out… sheesh.

What characteristic in others annoys you?

This survey hath been stolen from youandwhosearmy.

Rules of this survey – no two answers can be the same book and all books must be fiction books (hey, I read a lot of non-fiction and this is my blog and I can change the rules if I want so neener neener and neener).

Book next to your bed right now:  All of my library books live on my nightstand so there are currently about 10 books on the nightstand including The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Pollen, The Time Machine by Wells, The Kid by Dan Savage and Children of God by Russell.

Favorite series:  I still love the Harry Potter books. I am still amazed by how imaginative they are!

Favorite book:  Oh, this is difficult. I have to go with Love in the Time of Cholera by Garcia, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Niffenegger.

The one book you would have with you if stranded on a desert island:  Probably any of my favorites or if I had to pick a different book, probably Atlas Shrugged so I could focus on it.l

Book/series you would take with you on a long flight: Whatever I was in the middle of, I suppose.

Worst book you were made to read in school: You know, I can’t really think of a book that I hated. I got to read a lot of good classics.

Book that everyone should be made to read in school:  The Great Gatsby most definitely

Book that everyone should read, period:  I’m only halfway through it but I’m quickly becoming convinced that The Omnivore’s Dilemma is one that any person that eats food (so that pretty much includes everyone). I’ve been thouroughly freaked out and intrigued at the same time. As for fiction, I have to go with Love in the Time of Cholera; it’s such a good story.

Favorite character:  Either Florentino from Love in the Time of Cholera or Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby

Best villain:  The firemen from Fahrenheit 451. They were scary.

Favorite invented world:  I have to go with the world of Harry Potter. It’s incredibly inventive!

Most beautifully written book:  Either The Elegance of the Hedgehog or The Little Prince

Funniest book:  Definitely Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Hilarious!

We’re sitting in the car last night. It was very dark and we’re staring out in front of us at the dark highway with the bright stars above us. It was late and it had been a really long day for both of us. I’m in the passenger seat trying to stay awake so I could keep the Architect awake. We’re talking about the upcoming week and listening to classic rock on the radio.

I have a penchant for memorizing lyrics. I wish I could roll those skills into something useful. Nonetheless, I’m very entertaining in the car because I know most of the songs that come on the radio and I sing them at the top of my lungs. The Architect was giggling as I belted out songs complete with seat dancing. I love being able to make him laugh, especially when he’s stressed.

The song ends and I look over at him and say “I love you.”

It’s times like those that make me feel really alive.

What makes you feel alive?

The house had sat empty for years and years. We asked some of the neighbors about who had once lived there but even the neighbors hadn’t been around enough to see the home occupied at any point. The car had probably sat there since the house was abandoned as well. It looks like it would have been a nice car at some point. It was a shame that the car had sat out in the elements. It was probably ruined by now. Mother Nature has a way of breaking down even the strongest materials like the heavy metal that cars were made with during the 50s and 60s.

The car reminded me of one we had growing up. My dad loved that car. It was a 1960s Plymouth Fury. I remember how much I loved the smell of that car. It smelled dusty but the seats had been worn down until they were super soft. It was the perfect car to take naps in on long car trips. I remember once when we still lived in Illinois, we packed the car full to go to a wedding in Nebraska. My parents had my sisters and I sleep in sweats so that they could just carry us out to the car in the very early morning. My aunt and cousins were also with us. The car was absolutely huge and fit us all pretty comfortably. My parents were incredibly brave to take four kids under the age of four on that long of a road trip.

We stayed in an absolutely horrendous hotel. It was the kind of hotel where it was highly advisable to wear shower shoes. I still remember that even though I was all of 3 or 4. It’s amazing what you do remember.

(67. Something inspired by this picture by Youandwhosearmy: mode of creation open ( 3 pts) , 45.   Something based on or about a road trip- Mode of creation open- ( 4pts) )