reflections and rambles

i’m exhausted! this month at work has been really stressful… to the point of pushing me over the edge. seriously. bad. then, i woke up this morning to find about 20 bug bites all over my body… i did a story in kind of gross, dingy, areas yesterday so i think i was probably bit then but it took overnight to surface.

ugh. the positive is i can take a nap and hopefully decompress before sunday when it starts all over again.

so i’m stuck at work killing some time, waiting for a meeting to be over. it’s 8pm and i’ve been here since 9 this morning.

anyhoo…

a friend of mine (and really it’s a friend, not me disguised) set up one of those online dating service profiles. she found this dude and it seemed like they had so much in common!! they both wanted a honeymoon in the same place! they both studied the same type stuff, have similar advanced degrees!! have similar religious views! WOW! it was soooo surreal.

then he came to visit.

upon spending time together, they realized, nah, they actually aren’t quite a “compatible” as the website said.

but honestly, should they really be so surprised that it seemed like a good match at first? Come on! the reason why they met in the first place is they filled out the questionnaire the same way. but just because you both want 3 kids and think a good sense of humor is so important doesn’t necessarily mean a good match. i think it can give a false sense of compatibility. not always, but probably often.

i’m seeing a guy right now… and on paper we probably wouldn’t be the e-match. like different music, have lived in very opposite type places, i had never been on a 4 wheeler before meeting him, etc. but it works. it just works. we do have other big things compatible like our faith and our outlook on life. both like sports, even if we root for different teams.

so i’ll take the real-life match over the e-match! but more power to ya if that e-match was fantastic. i’ll see you on the commercial!

Williamson Co. shelter stops “Black is Beautiful” promotion

© 2008 The Associated Press

GEORGETOWN, Texas — An animal shelter pulled the plug on a program promoting the adoption of black cats and dogs after criticism that the event would have taken place the same week as Juneteenth, a state holiday commemorating freedom for enslaved blacks in Texas.

The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter planned to reduce adoption fees June 14-20 for black-coated animals to $25 through a “Black is Beautiful” promotion, the Austin American-Statesman reported in its online edition Wednesday.

The shelter had pictures of a black cat named “Midnight” and two black dogs named “Britain” and “Baskin” on its Web site Wednesday.

Eleven of 17 dogs and 12 of 24 cats at the shelter have black coats, shelter director Cheryl Schneider told The Associated Press.

People choose other animals over the black coated cats and dogs for a variety of reasons, including superstition, fears of aggression and complaints people can’t see the animals’ facial expressions as well, Schneider said.

Celebrated June 19, Juneteenth commemorates the 1867 arrival of Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger in Galveston with news of freedom for Texas blacks. The announcement came nearly two and a half years after passage of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Schneider put a stop to the adoption program after learning about the controversy. “It was just bad timing,” Schneider told the AP.

“It’s just a known fact that black cats and black dogs are difficult to adopt,” Schneider said. “I think it is very unfair to the dogs and cats that are here.”

Williamson County spokeswoman Connie Watson told the paper the shelter has offered promotions before when it has had a high number of a type of animal, including a promotion for cat adoptions later this month. The promotion was not meant to be a Juneteenth-related event, Watson told the paper.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told the paper the promotion was “not very well planned or considered.”

“In society, we live in small worlds, don’t talk to people, assume things and promote things that have no basis in reality,” Linder told the paper. “I would encourage them to do more outreach on those animals. Talk to people, get some feedback so these things don’t happen.”

Schneider said future promotions will not be so specific.

that movie the bucket list came out recently. i haven’t seen it, but in a note from my grandparents they said they saw it and started making a list of their own. cute!

well i made a list of sorts a few years ago:

1. Live in another place other than NE Tarrant County

2. Live in NYC

3. Go to Europe

4. Go on a foreign mission trip

5. Work for a tv company other than TBN (not that it was a bad thing, but you know)

So…. Now I’ve done everything on there except go to Europe and live in NYC. Honestly, the New York part, I don’t care as much if it happens. But it’s scary to think at age 25 I’m one shy of doing everything I want to do!!

So… I’m coming up with some other things. Sheesh! I need some stuff to last at least another 50 years!! At least!

I’d like to publish a book. Don’t know what about, but something really interesting. Of course I’d like to be married and have a family at some point. I’d like to go to Japan while my grandmother is still alive. (She’s 84!) And there are other things I can’t really think of off the top of my head. But they will be thrilling, exciting, and something to look forward to!

what’s on your list??

*edit* as i think of more, i’ll post them… hike the grand canyon is another one!

so is it just me or is it ridiculously windy outside?!?!

like more windy that the usual, “it’s windy.”

this is texas, so wind is really no surprise, but the past few days i’ve been outside, usually wearing heels, and have literally been knocked off my feet. i’m more than happy to be a relatively small person, but geez! yesterday i had small, thin heels so i planted them in the ground so i would blow away during a liveshot. that’s nuts!!

it’s amazing i’m not this big allergy bomb with who knows what flying through the air.

so the other day i was jogging at this park in sherman. it has a large pond/small lake in the middle and they put a trail around it. so it’s pretty nice, naturey.

i finished and was walking to cool down across a levee on one side of the pond/lake, and i saw this bird flying overhead. i am DEFINITELY no animal expert but i think it was a hawk of some sort.

i’ve heard, read, and said isaiah 40:31 for many, many years, but living in urban areas honestly i’ve never really seen a bird soaring like that one. over the water so peacefully. it would glide, slowly flap its arms when needed, and seemed so at ease.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

my life is definitely easier than others, not going to argue that. but i’ve just been very tired and stressed about some things lately. but seeing that bird really was a visual reminder of the incredible hope. we can’t renew our strength on our own, but it’s this incredible feeling (i hate to say feeling but get my gist).

so i hope wherever you are, God will renew your strength to do what you need to do. life doesn’t stop, but life is meant to be lived soaring even in tough times.