Mi Vida Loca!

bowling

Yay!!! I finally broke 100!! My previous high score was an 82 but after last night its now 109!! WOO HOO!!

posted by Jan @ 9:55 AM 1 Comments

Freedom of Expression

So, I have a bumper sticker on my car that says "I Support President Bush" and it has the President's face on it. Now, I know that by putting this on my car I opened myself up to all sorts of criticism from anti-Bush people, etc. I can't tell you how many comments I've gotten on it over the years since I put it on my car. A man at a gas station once asked me where I got it because he wanted one. A man at my old apartment complex wanted to debate with me on politics - he was a very strong democrat. I will admit that lately I have heard more and more negativity towards Bush and his administration and honestly I don't know what its all about because I have not kept up with the news and whats going on. So there is a chance that maybe I don't actually support some of the things going on. But in general I still believe that GW is a godly man, and as my President (and the one I voted for both times) I support him even if I may not agree with him. Does that make sense? Anyway, yesterday I was driving on 121 and as I approached a red light I happened to glance in my rear view mirror as a white SUV approached behind me. The woman in the passenger seat caught my eye as she was gesturing to the driver and pointing at my bumper. Then she shot me the the bird!! Obviously it was in reference to the sticker and I had a conflict of reactions. My first one was to laugh - I mean its a sticker for crying out loud, yet she was so upset about it she felt the need to gesture obscenely in my direction! But the second was to be offended because I have the freedom and the right to express my beliefs and display them on my private property. And of course the third was shame at my offense because while I have the freedom to put that sticker on my car, she has the right to flip me off because of her disapproval of said sticker! But you know, when I see vulgar bumper stickers, or darwin fish symbols, or democratic stickers, etc on other vehicles I do not feel the need to obscenely gesture or react negatively to that person directly. I may disagree with their opinions but at the same time I recognize their freedom to express that opinion publicly and display those things on their private property. So in the end I decided to feel slightly amused that something so simple as a bumper sticker would encite such a vulgar reaction from a complete stranger, but also glad that I do in fact live in a country where we are free to express those opinions. And this leads me to another recent experience regarding freedom of expression/speech. I went to the Stars game Wednesday night with some friends and at one point during the game, the young guys sitting a few rows behind me expressed their anger at a call or something. One of the guys yelled VERY loudly 2 cuss words which I really dislike. There are some expressions that I will "tolerate" but these were two that I strongly felt did not need to be used, especially since there were children/families around. Several people turned to glare at the guy who yelled this, but I made eye contact. So as I turned back around he said to me something along the lines of "thats why I come to the games, so I can yell at the refs" and I responded back "Okay but you don't have to use that kind of language". He then responded something about free speech. At this point I thought, okay if you're really gonna go there, then fine. So I turned back around and said "Yes, but you're in a public place and there are children around who can hear you" to which one of his buddies laughed and said "I like this chick she says what she thinks". After some hesitation the young man finally said "Okay okay I apologize (on behalf of the children)" and that was the end of it. But the mother sitting next to me thanked me. I don't think anyone else in that general area would have ever said anything to this guy and I wouldn't have had he not engaged me by his response. It was a sporting event and therefore people are going to "express their feelings" and technically they do have that right. But at the same time I feel that as adults we should excersise some discretion based on our surroundings and the fact that there were young children around who didn't need to be exposed to such words. No mater what your beliefs or convictions or lack thereof, a level of responsibility still comes with how you choose to act and when and where. He had the right to use those words, and I had the right to express my disgust. Thank you to the forefathers who wrote the constitution and gave us both those rights.

posted by Jan @ 9:32 AM 2 Comments

i have a cold

one should never brag about one's immune system of steel because invetibly the next day one will come down with a cold. or whatever it is i have. everyone at work has been sick and has so very kindly brought their sickness with them to work. instead of taking a day or two off early in the illness to catch it in infancy and prevent it from growing into something nasty, they work until they can't get out of bed and then return asap to cough and sneeze and share the germs with us all. i wash my hands. i have hand sanitizer at my desk. i take vitamin c. i drink LOTS of water (in fact its part of my new diet to drink only water, aside from my morning cup of coffee). but then we got freaking freezing temperatures IN MARCH and i was out in the cold air for the stars game (they won!) and WHAM. sore throat. and other things you don't want to hear about. so i stayed home from work out of courtesy (even though it was not shown to me). Hoping I'd be well enough to go back today I took advil cold and sinus last night but instead of helping me sleep i was up all night long. those sleep aid/cold meds NEVER put me to sleep. except for benadryl of course. tonight i'll take benadryl and hopefully get a good nights sleep. the sore throat is almost completely gone but now my head and nose are all stuffy - seriously, mucous must grow at an alarming rate because I don't understand how so much fits in there!!! sorry that was TMI but anyone who's been through this knows I'm right!! according to my mom this allergy season is supposed to be horrendous. my allergies are usually very mild so but i may have to work a little harder at keeping them at bay this year. word of advice: never brag that you never get sick. its murphy's law that then you will. happy spring everyone!

posted by Jan @ 10:12 PM 1 Comments

Basketball

So I finally got to go to my first professional basketball game at American Airlines Center! Granted, I would have liked it to be a Maverick's game but who am I to turn down a free ticket to the Big 12 Championship game between Texas and Kansas, Platinum level seating??? It was a great game too!! Here's the pic I took of the scoreboard/floor when the game was over. Not so great but the best I could do with my camera phone. I had a blast!

posted by Jan @ 9:17 AM 1 Comments

Dr Jan in the house

awhile back an idea was presented to me regarding counseling. a friend of mine is going through a program online to get a certificate in biblical counseling and suggested i start it too. i'm not sure how 'official' something like that would be but the books and lessons would probably be very enlightening. i considered doing it but sorta put it on the back shelf for awhile. well i believe the decision might be making itself for me. just in the past week alone i've had 3 people that i am not particularly close to spill their guts/problems to me. it is not totally unusual for people to just open up to me but for 3 people in a time span of about 5 days to do it? the most shocking was the woman at work who confided in me her anxiety about an upcoming surgery. we were in the ladies room of all places and there was really no intro to the topic, she just started talking about it! we carried the conversation on into the breakroom and i simply listened and offered the little advice i might have on such a thing. i walked away from that conversation baffled because it was so out of the blue. another situation involves my cousin who i am friends with but we've never been "soul deep" - we've never really had that intimate, soul searching type of relationship which is okay since she lives far away. but out of nowhere she sent me an incredibly long email containing a type of journal she's kept for over a year about a situation she's agonizing over and she wanted my help. of all the people she knows (and she has closer friends than me) she chose ME to spill all this out to. i was a non-biased party with no involvement whatsoever of the situation so she knew i could be completely objective and also very honest. but it still took me completely off guard that she sent me this huge chunk of her heart on a platter and asked for my diagnosis! the third situation involved someone i hardly know at all (just met actually) and she was simply having a bad day and spilled it all out to me. we were surrounded by some of her closest friends but instead of telling them, she told it to me (in a low voice so they weren't included). shocking!! so now i'm going to research the counseling stuff again and see what i can find. who knows, this may be my new calling in life! and if anyone has some situation you'd like help with or just a listening ear, apparently i'm available! :-)

posted by Jan @ 9:21 AM 1 Comments