10 #Random Things...

So many thoughts are currently swirling around my sleep-deprived brain, that I decided to make a list. Maybe this way, I can excise 10 things OUT of my brain, and can focus on a few more things that are probably more important:

• 1.       Your co-workers may only “pretend” to like you…but if you bring them chocolate, the feeling will be genuine for the 5 minutes it takes for them to eat it.
• 2.       Grief hits you at the most bizarre moments. I was standing at the fax machine, and suddenly realized that my daughter’s birthday is in exactly 1 week. For that brief moment, I wanted to sit on the floor of the office and cry. It was a fleeting moment; no one around knew anything different. But for me, I had to stop and catch my breath before I could continue…for just that moment.
• 3.       Waxing your own eyebrows while trying to have a conversation with your husband and keep an eye on a mobile child will undoubtedly result in half of your eyebrow suddenly going missing. Don’t look too closely at my face for at least 2 weeks.
• 4.       The more I listen to conservative radio, the angrier I get at the “Affordable” Care Act. If the government would have handled their first run at insurance in a cost-effective, efficient way (Medicare/Medicaid), then I wouldn’t mind. But the facts don’t lie: Medicare and Medicaid are a poorly monitored, overtly-abused mess that is enabling/entitling people. Medicare/Medicaid cost us billions, yet the same government wants to run our healthcare? Bad idea, guys. Let healthcare providers handle healthcare. The government messes up every single program they get their hands into. Healthcare CAN NOT be dependent on boneheads who simply will not get along! After a week of listening to conservative radio (why in the WORLD does Dave Glover play some stupid song about "Chimpanzees Riding on a Segway?!?"), I finally feel like I've caught up in the world of politics. I don't know if that's a good thing. I've become very familiar with Glenn Beck and Dana Loesch, and I'm genuinely surprised at how much I like their shows. We don't always agree, but I'm always entertained and educated...
• 5.       I see a lot of Facebook posts that insult people on welfare. I used to post those things, too, until a friend of mine made me realize how brutal it sounded. There are so many people who are abusing the system, that it’s made us forget that there are people who genuinely want to get off of it. They want a better life; they don’t want to be on welfare, or be attached to that stigma. They’re doing the best they can. You can’t post something anti-welfare and expect it to make an impact on the people who are milking the system. All you’re going to do is hurt the feelings of the people who need that system. And really, the bottom line? If the church did what Jesus called us to do, there would be no need for the welfare system. I get it—there’s nothing more annoying to me, then seeing someone with expensive acrylic nails swipe a food stamp card. That pisses me off. But I’ve been the mom who cries in her car because she has to get WIC and she’s mortified (we were both unemployed for most of my pregnancy with Hannah). I was so ashamed, and I’ve never forgotten it. You don’t know who is in what position, so stop the mean posts. It could be you (I certainly never thought it would be me).
• 6.       My son is mobile. He’s scootching forward (yes, “scootching” is a word) when he hits tile, and he’s into everything. He really, really likes cords, so I think I’d like to hire some magician to come into my house, and figure out how to keep everything running, but hide the cords. Any takers? Watching him try to figure out how to get something he wants is an object lesson everyone should see. I think he may have a determined streak like his Auntie..
• 7.  I'm not entirely sure who the baseball geniuses are that scheduled the games, but every home game is on a night that I don't have to drive downtown. I'd like to kiss the scheduler! #GoCards #WorldSeries (Speaking of, I'll never forget listening to the World Series while I was in the hospital waiting to have Hannah. It was a really fun time at MoBap! And I guess my children will both have baseball ties; JD was born on the day of Stan Musial's funeral.)
• 8.       If I hear the weatherman say “Alberta Clipper” one more time, I’m going to smack him. I have no idea why I find that phrase so annoying, but I do. #BlameCanada
• 9.       I just realized that there are a LOT of things from Canada that totally annoy me: Justin Bieber. Anne Murray. Avril Lavigne. Nickelba…can’t even type their name. People who say “eh.”  I’m sure there are more things, but I can’t think of them right now.
• 10.  I'm teaching a poetry workshop on Saturday at GHOP. I'm excited, nervous, and praying that I don't stick my foot into my mouth. I'm hoping that God pours an extra measure of grace on my brain, because although this is something I've always wanted to do, I've never done it, and I feel sorely underqualified!  I'm gathering my materials, and I hope I have a strong presentation for my first run...

And THAT is my list of 10 Random Things Swirling Around in My Brain! #GoCards