June 30, 2012

June 30, 2012

     I often wonder why we pay for television. I got home tonight and picked up the mail and started looking through the bills. Every month I get my bill for satellite t.v. and I say to myself, “I’ve got to cancel this. It’s such a waste.” Then I go ahead and pay it and then the next month rolls around, then the next. When is this wasteful cycle going to end? I am especially ready to cancel tonight since my bill just went up. I have gone through all the steps of calling and asking them to lower my bill, but I just don’t feel that existing customers should have to beg or threaten to leave to get their bill lowered. When new customers can waltz right in and get the same package for twenty to twenty-five dollars less than existing customers. Where’s the loyalty? There isn’t any. These companies know they’ve got you. I keep telling myself I don’t need all the sports channels, but then I think of how much I love college basketball and major league baseball. Then, I think that my boys don’t need nick jr., I can always buy their favorite cartoons on dvd or Blu-ray. Do I do it? Nope. I just keep on forking over my hard earned money to these big companies. When will we all learn? When will we as a society realize we don’t NEED satellite t.v. or cable? The line has become blurred with what we need and want. Just like the expensive cell phone bills. We all think we need a thirty dollar data plan. I must say, that is one bill I don’t pay. We actually have pay as you go phones, because I refused to pay the insane amounts just to use my phone. If I could only be this strong when it came to my t.v. bill…maybe someday.

Is It Ever Going TO Rain?

June 29, 2012

     Is it ever going to rain? It is really hot and dry. My goodness it is only June and the grass where we live is already burnt and not growing anymore. I live in the country and I see the pastures that normally look green and refreshed from the first hay cutting of the year, looking dead and brown and almost tired from the relentless heat. Hay season is always a big deal in our family and if the hay crop is plentiful than the mood is always happy and cheerful around the house, but this year it hasn’t been that way. My Dad’s hay fields only made a third of what they did last year. Now my husband is actually very fortunate this year. This spring her made the decision to sell his cows, because he simply didn’t have time for them. Now, it was definitely a good decision since he’d be having to worry about having enough hay to feed them. The farmers in our area know the crop isn’t enough and they dread having to look for hay elsewhere, knowing they’re going to have to pay a high price. My husband actually bales hay for other people and they either pay him or give him half the hay and then he sells the hay for profit. He has been getting so many farmers calling him asking if he had any extra to sell. Sad to say, but he doesn’t. My Dad is going to buy some from him, but there just any extra due to the lack of rainfall. Some of the fields that my husband normally would be cutting for hay right now, he is putting off hoping we get some rain and grass will grow. He’ll just cut it in the fall. He fears if he cuts it now the pasture will just die completely. I really hope it rains.

I Am a Blogger! What???

June 28, 2012

I Am a Blogger. What???

     Never, never, never in a bazillion years would I have considered myself a blogger! But look at me, here I am. Granted it was part of a writing assignment, but still I’m challenging myself to something new and modern. This is a challenge I find scary and exciting all at the same time: Scary because other bloggers will be reading my thoughts and exciting because I’m venturing out of my comfort zone, which for me is also scary. Remember from one of my other blog posts, my personality type is ISFJ. I think blogging is a very inventive way to get your ideas out there, to share your thoughts and concerns, or just to get something off your chest. I’ve always enjoyed reading other people’s blogs. I do have a Pinterest account and I think that is one of the best ways to get your ideas out there. I think Pinterest was a wonderful idea. To have a place for all kinds of people to share their ideas and be able to pin them onto your account so they’re never lost out in blogger land. I love blog posts about food the most, but I don’t limit myself to just that. I have made homemade laundry detergent, which has saved my family a lot of money. I have made safe household cleaners, they don’t have all the harsh chemicals in them. Exploring blogger’s posts have really opened up my world to other possibilities. Things I thought were to too hard or practically impossible can be easy by using the tips you find in the blogging world. Now, I am a blogger. Maybe someday, someone will read my posts and be influenced in some way. Some way or another I want to try to be on the giving end of the blogging world instead of the receiving end for awhile.

Know Your Audience Analysis Blog Post

     I found the “Know Your Audience” assignment surprising in a few different ways. First and foremost, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this assignment like Ms. Anthony had told us to. I thought that it might just be busy work, but as I made my way through the questions and read what everyone had answered and I found myself interested and involved to the point I didn’t want to stop reading. One question that stands out for me was Ron’s. “What drives you crazy, makes you mad, or frustrated you?”  I laughed my way through most of these responses, because the same things that drive my classmates nuts, does me too! Why DO drivers pull out in front of me, then proceed to drive slow? Why can’t McDonald’s count the number of drinks you have and give you an equal amount of straws to go with them? Just any straws at all would be nice!  I could go on and on about Mickey D’s, but I won’t,  I must move on. But if we ALL have the same issues with society then why don’t WE ALL try to change to make things better? 

     The second thing that stood out to me with this assignment was whether it was a question or an answer, the topic always went towards family. This is a very family oriented group. Whether it was, “What we would do with a million dollars?”, or “What would you do with a superpower?” some of us would always come back to our family, me included.  I feel like we all have a common bond now as a class for this reason.

     The last thing that surprised me was when I responded to the question, “What would you do if you had 24 hours left to live?” I didn’t expect it to stir emotions the way it did. I found myself with tissues having a good cry. I guess since I’m 28, I’ve never put much thought into it before and I knew as soon as I read the question what my answer would be to spend time with my family at home. I barely got through answering this question and probably cut the answer off short do to all the tears! I was never a crier before my children.

     In the end, I think knowing all of this new information about my classmates has helped me to realize just what they are interested in reading. I now know many of their personal interests and feelings about different topics. It’s good to know my audience.

Pre-writing and Exercises for Credo Essay

Pre-writing and Exercises for Credo Essay

Credo:

      I believe as a parent, I am my children’s first and most important teacher. As parents when we bring a child into the world, I feel that it is our responsibility to teach them everything we can and if there’s something we can’t teach them, provide them the resources that can teach them. We as parents determine our child’s success in life by what we offer them from the time they enter the world. We start off teaching our children love, trust, and nurturing and then build on that.

Exercise 2:

     After reading and evaluating the This I Believe Essays I thought these individual authors make it seem so easy to put their feeling and beliefs onto paper. When I read “Always Go to the Funeral” by Dierdre Sullivan I thought, how many times have I talked myself out of going to a funeral just because of pure selfishness? The times I didn’t go just because I was uncomfortable, never caring about how the family of the one who passed away would feel if I paid my respects. All of these women who wrote their own I Believe Essays a unique way of presenting something they believe in. I found it interesting how Phyllis Allen who wrote “Leaving Identity Issues to Other Folks” changed her beliefs throughout the decades with the changing country. She evolved throughout the years with society. One essay I really couldn’t relate to was “Be Cool To The Pizza Delivery Dude”. I grew up in a rural area and I never got a chance to experience the crazy driving pizza guy, but I do believe in being gracious and kind to people. I guess I had never put into that kind of perspective before. All in all, these were good reads and were helpful with my own I Believe essay.

I believe in sitting down at the table for dinner, with my family.

     I believe in sitting down at the table for dinner, with my family. I think we should so this as often as possible. My family did this every night that we were all home together. My Mom has always said that you can tell how your kids are doing by sitting down at the table for dinner. She would always watch our actions or listen to how we were talking about how our day went. There were many nights I didn’t feel like talking to my parents at the dinner table. If I had problems at school, and by problems I mean girl drama, my Mom would always know right away something was going on. She may not say anything at the table since my Dad and older brother was there, but later before bed she’s come into my bedroom and ask me what was wrong. I didn’t understand then how she could know I was having a bad day, but having kids of my own know, I understand. Although my boys aren’t old enough now to have social drama in their lives, I can still tell a lot by sitting down with them. While they are eating, I just sit back and observe. If they aren’t eating good then they may not be feeling well, like when I look across the table and notice that my oldest has dark circles under his eyes, I know that his allergies/ sinuses are bothering him. It’s just amazing what you can notice from 20 minutes at the table with your family.

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"This I Believe" list

Typology Test

     Listen to this! I just took the Jung Typology Test, which is a personality assessment test. I always thought those things were bogus, but it turns out they are pretty accurate. I took the seventy-something question quiz, and was amazed at how my results were dead on with my own personality. There was one thing that I didn’t agree with but for the most part the results were right on.

     The type of personality I am is Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging (ISFJs). They are shy, quiet individuals that work hard and are so worried about perfection that they aren’t willing to delegate any of their responsibilities; they love routines and clear instructions. When it comes to writing they don’t like new writing techniques, and before they ever start writing they do their research and map out what they’re going to write. All of this is ME! I don’t like to get out of my comfort zone, and if I do I have to do my best to feel in control. I have to make a plan before I ever begin on what I’m going to write. I think this makes for a very uptight writer. After reading how routine and uptight of a person I am, I realize this directly reflects me as a writer. Another downfall to my personality is lack of confidence. Even though I work hard at everything, I worry that it’s not good enough, or it’s going to disappoint someone. When it comes to writing I never want anyone else to read what I’ve wrote (except for the teachers or course) because I don’t feel it’s good. As I writer I know I need to get more confident and be a little more relaxed. This personality test just confirmed it for me. I’ve learned that I need to more laid back and go with the flow; I need to write what feels good.

     Even though this personality test was eerily similar to my own personality, there were still one thing I didn’t feel described me. ISFJs tend to feel unappreciated and often are unappreciated by their family, friends, and co-workers. I don’t feel that way. Most of the people in my life appreciate the thing I do for them.  I’m also very aware when someone is trying to use me and I’ll speak up, where as ISFJs do not. This assessment kind of makes me sound like I’m a pushover, but I am far from it.