Insomnia

I can't sleep.... feeling a case of insomnia coming on. Never a good thing.... so I will write about my random day.

First of all I have decided that if I just hang out in the church and listen to all the gossip and drama that goes on, I no longer need drama in my own life. All the drama space is filled just by listening to others. I think that this might be a good thing and help make my life more simple. Getting the drama out there will make more room for fun in my life... I like fun!

Tonight we went to St Dysmas which is the prison ministry at the state penitentiary. It was really interesting. It was really awesome to watch people really get into praising God. In listening to the pastor preach I realized how much easier it is to give the Gospel and really to receive it when you aren't in middle class America. The message seems so much more urgent and relevant when you are sitting with people who need to hear that they are loved and forgiven. The random part about the night was that I saw the classmate that I blogged about earlier (http://spish-fishgoldammer.blogspot.com/2007/12/manic-monday.html). It was good to see him and talk with him. I really feel like God put me there tonight for a reason. He has only been there for about a week now and this was the first time he came to the church service. I tried to encourage him to come every week. I learned that he had been going to a church in A-town since it all happened. It was good to hear that Pastor T had been keeping in contact with him and was making sure he is doing okay. He was asking me how life was, I felt kind of guilty for doing so well and being where I'm at in life. He was asking about other mutual friends and how they were doing. Told him that CH was in Sweden for work and that he is an engineer now.... felt kind of guilty again. It just makes me think how things change and how close we all are to a stupid mistake. He is now in prison for 20 years. He hopes he will get parole in 1-2 years. He made it seem like that wouldn't be too long.... I can't imagine 1-2 years of my life just gone!

It's just been such a weird week. From being in the hospital in Winner, SD to seeing an old classmate who I knew really well in prison. What a week for reflection that is for sure!

New Year

I was doing some searching and found this quote.... with all the talk about New Year's Resolution I'm not sure what to think about it all. I don't really think they work either so I try not to do them. It's usually around September that I look back on the year behind me and try to make sure that I have made some type of progress. I did like this quote however and might make it my quote for the new year.

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)


This page that my friend Rachel found has some really fun/random quotes http://www.quotationspage.com/

The weekend from .....

Okay so not really .... but close.

It started out good. Got up Sat. morning, feeling good, 5am. Ready to go. Drove out to the Rosebud reservation. Really good experience and always helps to remind me, not only to be thankful for what I have but to be thankful to know how to "get" things or be "successful" in this world. It reminds me of the importance of not just giving someone a fish, but teaching them how to fish. However that thing goes.. you all know what I mean.

That evening, meaning Sat night, I got really sick with abdominal pains and ended up in the Winner, SD E.R. and then the hospital. Winner is almost as wonderful as the Mobridge hospital. Not recommended. They were good to me but a little random, especially the surgeon, who should be the most not random person there. Not the case. If you plan on having any surgeries, go some where else. Just a little FYI.

I talked them into releasing me early Sunday afternoon so I could catch my ride and get back to this side of the state (southeastern). Didn't want to get stuck out there. They released me if I told them I would see a doctor on Monday. They called ahead to make sure the right people knew what was wrong just in case and to make sure I could get into someone on Monday morning. Then they let me go.

Long story short. Haven't felt better all week until this evening. I have this thing with getting sick really fast and then when I feel better it happens really quick also. So tada.. I feel better! FINALLY I CAN EAT! and walk upright. I was kind of slouched for a while.

I started weight watchers again a week ago. Eric bought me the Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii and so I had been really working out with that and going to the gym. I was all sorts of motivated! I think I had already lost a pound or two. Well... then this stomach thing hit and the diet was REALLY on. I lost 7lbs in one week.

I have found out something about myself through this all. I wouldn't make a good anorexic. I need food! So I will continue with the original diet program... eat and loose some weight little by little. I'm okay with that, in fact that's the way I roll.

Awkward Moments

Some how I choose the position, or rather God chose me for me, that I live in the awkward moments. This year feels FULL of awkward moments.

Christmas Eve... guess who forgot the words "In the name of the..... uh uh.. Son.. nope that's not it... Oh.. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." In front of the whole church. That's right gone.

First time I preside over Holy Communion. I do the Lord's Supper in the Prayers of the Day. DOH! So... Holy Communion comes and we just do it again!

Yesterday the Pastor was gone and I received my first call that someone had passed away. I called over to the house to see if the wife was doing okay and offered to come out there and visit. She was so upset and some other members of the congregation had just got there that she was being so weird and awkward. And of course she wanted the Pastor... which I am only the Intern...also gets awkward. She called later that evening to tell me when we were meeting with the Funeral Director and that was a lot less awkward. But still! Being the Intern is awkward in its self. Making your first I'm sorry your loved one has passed away can I do anything phone call is also awkward.

Today we went to meet with the Funeral Director and the family for this funeral and the wife shook PM's hand and said something about it being cold. She then shook my hand and said something about it being warmer. Which I followed up by saying, "That's because I'm warmer." Who says that! The Funeral Director had to really hold himself back from making a comment. Ugh.... Awkward! That has to be a Friends moment. I feel like that weird person when they get into social situations just says stupid stuff because they are nervous. Did Chandler do that?

And there are many more moments like these. Not enough time to write about them all. I need to just have a hole around me that I can crawl into once and a while.

The hoops

A little frustrated today with the hoops. I've been trying to sign up for an online class for about a month. Little did I know that it would take this much work and take this long. I found out that I had to get an ok from the CLI office and my intern supervisor. I had the ok from Mark already so I emailed my contact person at the CLI office. Well then I found out that I had to go to the head of the CLI office, still not a problem. So Mark emailed him and said it was ok with him that I took a class. Mark heard back from the head of the office, not about anything to do with the email at hand, but all about who he knew in the congregation..... so had no idea what was going on. grrr....

Waited for some time of confirmation from some place, assuming someone has passed on that it was okay...

waited some more.....

Finally emailed the head of the CLI office yesterday to ask if I could take the class, if he had let anyone know. Any sign of what I was suppose to do next.

Got a vague email back that, yes you can take the class, and that was it.

So I forwarded the email to the registrar and asked what other hoops I needed to jump through.
I received an email today saying that the class is full and that online classes fill up fast. AAAAHHHHH!!! Of course there is nothing I could have done about it because everyone else is slow. This is why I don't like relying on others to do things because they don't understand the need to do something about anything in a timely manner.

So I emailed the professor about allowing me into the class. Tried not to put anyone down about not getting things in on time but also tried to let him know the reason why I didn't sign up earlier wasn't for a lack of trying on my part.

Why does something as simple as a class have to be so complicated.

Christmas at the Goldammer's

Eric and Cody starting off the fun of Friday night. It's kind of become tradition to "taste test" a lot of different wines. We all bring a few bottles of wine to share and to try with one another. It's fun because everyone has different taste and someone will usually end up liking the wine if you don't. That and we usually get tipsy, and that wine buzz that is so good!




Jakoby getting his bath. Uncle Eric and Aunt Abbey were having too much fun giving him CRAZY hair does. Some day this picture will come back to haunt him!
Happy after His bath. We had fun playing with Jakoby all weekend. It's nice to rent the kids right now. Teach them naughty things and then give them back.

Saturday we went and visited the Grandmas. This is Grandma Goldammer and she finally remembered me! I know sad but she has a hard time remembering everyone anymore. She can't really see and has trouble hearing so it makes it kind of tough. I got really close and she was having a good seeing day so she was able to see my face and my hair color. She was so happy! It was a good day.




This is just too funny not to put on here. Cody has these new fun glasses that you can bend and they just go back to their original shape. I think they are meant for little kids. It was so much fun freaking people out all weekend by bending them like we were breaking them! This is Cody's angry face. It's the simple things in life.

Manic Monday

I had a wonderful 118 minute conversation with a good friend who lives out near Boston. It was really good to catch up on life and talk. She is such a wonderful person and I always feel blessed to have her in my life. It makes me appreciate good conversations and good friends, they are such a gift from God.

I was watching the news tonight and happened to see a classmate who was a year younger then me on the news. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping and armed robbery. http://www.aberdeennews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/NEWS01/712130344/-1/RSS02&rssfeed=RSS02
I had worked with him at a couple of jobs in high school and knew him fairly well. I was really surprised to learn that he had done this back in June 2006. How crazy!

For Christmas we were given Mario and Sonic at the Olympics on the Wii. Eric and I were up till 10 last night playing against each other at different events. It was so much fun! I am learning how poor sports we are. It's kind of funny because we both have major mood swings as we win and loose against each other. We both aren't good losers and kind of get grumpy. But when we are winning we rub it in to the other one, so it's like we are both bipolar. It's a good thing that I win most of the time!