Transforming Perceptions

These past few years have brought a whirlwind of emotions between becoming employed, moving half-way across the country, and finally having the ability to focus on myself, my weight loss, and my faith. This blog is a reflection of all of these items and how they interact with each other.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Memorial Day

Yesterday I went to a Memorial Day Ceremony that was absolutely beautiful, absolutely moving, and has stirred up my soul to try and do greater and better things for our soldiers!

They planted two pear trees, told stories of heroes who served in Iraq, read the names of those who died serving in Iraq, played TAPS, played the star spangled banner, and released three doves. I silently weeped when they played TAPS, and an older gentleman next to me stood there saluting the flag. It made me appreciate the soldiers I knew so much more, especially those who have lost comrades in Iraq. I wish I had the ability to hug them and let them know that what they fighting for is not and was not in vain. This was also the first time I saw doves released - I was always told it was illegal to release them. The three doves were released for our veterans and the soldiers currently serving, for those who lost loved ones, and our freedom.

The star spangled banner was played beautifully, but out of the small crowd that came to this ceremony, two guys did not take their hats off!!! One guy was in his late thirties or early forties and the other was probably about sixty. I was pretty ticked off, it isn't that hard to take your hat off in observance of our flag, our nation, our freedom...to show respect for our country, and our fallen heroes.

The ceremony was held at the cemetary in which my grandfather's gravesite was located. It was the first time I got to pay homage to him and his service in WWII. Please take a moment and show your appreciation to those who have served and to those who are now serving our wonderful nation.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

I'm a Patriot

Patriotism. Patriots. What exactly is a patriot? By Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, it is defined as "one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests." I never thought of myself as a patriot until a wondeful man, a soldier, pointed it out to me. I guess by definition, I am; I am a patriot. Our true patriots, though, are our soldiers, marines, guardsman, sailors, airmen, etc. They love our country enough to go to war for it. They support their commanders, but more importantly they defend our freedom and our way of living.

I have always told my soldiers that I support the military because it is my duty as an American to do everything I possibly can to make sure that they come home safely to their loved ones. It is our duty as Americans to make sure they know and feel unconditional love from our country - no matter how we feel about the war itself. Whatever is the case, they need to know that Home supports them.

If I can touch one soldier's life, make one soldier smile - I have done what every American should be doing. It seems as if Americans have forgotten what it means to support one another unconditionally.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Bad Things Happen in Threes

It all started on Friday the 13th. Yes, that's right, Friday the 13th. I wonder if we had a full moon that day as well. I didn't have any problems during the day, but when night came, this was a whole different story! That night I had gone shopping to get a portion of my friend's bridal shower gift, and did a few other minor errands. I got home around 11pm, was exhausted from getting up early, so I decided that I was just going to go to bed. As I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, I heard "drip drip drip......drip drip drip" from the area of my shower. I thought, "Oh, it's the faucet again, I'll twiddle with it before I go to bed." So when I opened my shower door (which I had to do carefully since it has been broken) and looked to see where it was dripping from, it was not from the faucet - it was from the ceiling!!! So I immediately sprung for the emergency mainenance pager numbers. Normally I would not have been as panicked, but the ceiling was buckling! Nobody from maintenance called me back that night.

On Saturday, even though our apartment complex office is not open, I called the office to see if they left a number for maintenance on the answering machine. Luckily the manager was in, and I talked to her about my problem and she sent somebody over right away. He took a look at the leak, went upstairs to look at the apartment above me, came back down and stuck a screwdriver up into the ceiling. The water that had been collecting up there went "WHOOSH." He started tearing the ceiling off, but couldn't see where the leak was coming from. He said he was going to head to the office to talk to the manager and that she would call me later. When four hours went by and nobody had called, I called the manager's apartment. Both the manager and the head maintenance guy came over a couple hours later to figure something out for me since I would not have a place to shower if something was not fixed. The maintenance guy found out that the leak was actually a pipe that brings clean water to the toilet for the guy who lives above me. Thankfully it was not the other pipe!!!! The leak was fixed that night. Although this happened on the 13th, I still have a huge hole in my ceiling and the light is hanging loosely in the shower stall. Last Monday when I was showering a piece of insulation nearly fell on my head. You can't help but laugh at the situation!

As my mom has always said, "Bad things happen in threes." On Mondays I usually grab something quick for dinner because I have small group (which is like a Bible study group). So I grabbed a pot, threw some water in it and my burner started smoking. I didn't think it was a big deal because I just cleaned the kitchen thoroughly a couple weeks ago. WELL the burner caught on fire!!!! Of course I panicked, took the pot off the burner and turned the burner off. I stood there for a moment to think about what I was going to do next. Luckily the fire died down quickly and I did not have to lunge for the fire extinguisher under my sink. My coworkers are having a blast with this one because they all know I have a thing for firemen. They joke around that if my apartment complex burns down, they know why!

So that makes two things that have happened. A third has not happened yet, so I'm wondering how crazy big it's going to be. I'll keep you posted!