Monday, November 16, 2009

Work Schmork


Appearing busy to avoid being laid off has become more exhausting than actually working.

So, so true. I sort of feel like a glorified secretary most of the time. I've spent the last week stuffing christmas cards into envelopes and addressing them. I am very ready for the holidays!

But until then, I have this little bundle of joy to cheer me up!

Watson and I went home to watch Mizzou play KSU this past weekend. It was glorious to see my team FINALLY win!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Love is patient, Love isn't glamorous

I've been so busy that updating my blog took a backseat to annual reports and company enewsletters. I've been learning so much about what it means to be a real, grown-up person- namely that it is much less glamorous than I thought it was going to be.

I had always envisioned myself to be living in an adorable tiny apartment in New York City working for some fashion company at this point in my life. Throw in a dreamy man and some great boots and you've got my dream life. While I do have the tiny apartment, an adorable boyfriend and some decent boots, I am learning to find the glitz and glamour elsewhere. I got a crock pot for my birthday (which I specifically asked for because I'm really cool) and I've been trying to cook fancy things that will be ready when I get home from work. I've also purchased a set of high thread count sheets so that by the time I got to bed at night I feel like I'm sleeping on something other than a hand-me-down mattress. They were worth the half of my paycheck that I spent on them. That's another great thing about being on my own- I can spend my money on whatever stupid things I want and I can only blame myself!

The best part of my job are the girls who live at our residential treatment center. Each one has a painful story and the internal scars to prove it. I've decided that while I am not in love with the day-to-day tasks of my job, I am in love with dedicating myself to making myself completely available to these girls. They are all looking for love in ALL the wrong places and, while I can't completely relate to that because I was scared of boys until I was like 20, I am a good listener and I keep a lot of chocolate in my office.

What is so heart breaking for me is that each one of these girls is going to age-out of "the system" when they turn 18 and will be out on their own. They will have no family and no money saved up to rely on. They never had mothers to teach them things like table manners or how to braid their hair or how to get stains out of clothes. I don't know how many times as a child I told my mother that I hated her, but now I couldn't be more grateful for the way I was raised.

I love this "message" version of the classic "love is patient, love is kind." I feel like this is something our girls at work would really be able to relate to:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (The Message)
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.


Better late than never, right blog world?!