'Twas a bittersweet evening...

Okay, so all in all, it was a pretty great day. Bro. Tim invited Bro. Larry Montgomery up to Tacoma to be the guest preacher for the day, so him and Sis. Kaye were here. I love them! :D We had a WA combined meeting tonight, which is always fun. Sounds like it should have been an amazing day, right? As wonderful as it was, I found myself coming to the realization that things just weren't the same.

See, normally some of the first people I would come in contact w/ when I would walk through the door at a combined meeting were Bro. Howard and Sis. Gayle. They weren't here tonight(pastoring in Richmond) :( Typically, I would talk to them for a bit and then Sis. Gayle would let me know if Melina had made it or if she had ditched us for some marching band thing. Melina wasn't here tonight(going to school in Spokane) :( Then somewhere along the way, I would run into Sherilyn and we would do some brief catching up and then finish up after the service. Sher wasn't here tonight(in the Air Force in Texas) :( While I would be putting my clarinet together before church, I would see someone from P.A., signifying that the P.A. van had arrived. So, I would go and hunt down Jamie. Jamie wasn't here tonight(moved to St. Louis) :(

Don't get me wrong, it was still a wonderful service. There was great music, great testimonies, a great sermon by Bro. Larry and a great prayer meeting. And it was great seeing people and catching up w/ them. But it was just a tad depressing realizing that the times, they are a changin'.

For once, on American Idol this past week, I actually agreed w/ all of the eliminations on Thursday night. The following got the boot: the annoying Ellen DeGeneres look-a-like; the Leif Garrett wannabe who sang an excrutiatingly boring and slow version of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do; the girl who sang the twangy Where the Boys Are, but lacked twang in her voice; and JoAnne, the plus sized model(who I actually liked, but unfortunately her performance on Wednesday wasn't all the great). Way to go, America. Maybe we'll actually have a talent competition this year.

So, I actually have a job interview tomorrow at 11. It's a temporary(2 months) data entry job at a staffing agency here in Tacoma. It's only a 7 to 10 minute ride on one bus to get there, which I am definitely liking. I know that data entry isn't the most exciting sounding of jobs, but it's a job and I can be pretty meticulous when I want to be, so I might enjoy it. Another plus is that it's at a staffing/temp agency, so when the job ends, I may have an easier time finding another temporary job. Some prayer for tomorrow would be much appreciated. I'm going to go have some dinner and force myself to go to bed so that I can get a decent amount of sleep and be bright eyed and bushy tailed for tomorrow. Bonne Nuit(Good night in French) :D

Quick addition:
This past camp meeting(maybe it was the previous camp meeting) kind of changed my thinking on the song, Til the Storm Passes By. I was in one of the shower stalls in the bathroom beneath the tabernacle and I looked up and saw this big, black bug. I started to freak out a bit, because I have got this horrible fear of a bug landing in my hair, mistaking it's nappiness for a nest and laying its eggs. So, I started praying that it wouldn't fall on me. As I was praying, the following song popped into my head.

To the tune of the chorus of Til the Storm Passes By:
Til the bug passes over and it bothers me no more;
I'll be safe here forever in my shower stall;
Keep me safe, let it pass;
And please make it really fast;
I'll be fine when that bug passes by.

This is proof that God must have a sense of humor, because it was so instantaneous! Now, the only problem is that I have a difficulty remembering the actual lyrics. I thought of this, because guess what song Sis. Kaye sang for last special tonight. And what Brianne Morgan sang last Sunday morning. And what my sister played recently on her french horn. Okay, now I really do need to get ready for bed!

Happy SIngle's Awareness Day!

It's Valentine's Day....whoop-i-dee-doo! It just feels like any other day to me. The only good thing about today is that a new episode of Smallville comes on tonight. Though, I do have to say that I am officially sick of all the Clark and Lana drama. She lies and deceives him, he takes her back. She admits that she was more in love w/ Phantom Clark than with him and he is still giving her another chance. Grrrr! I have wanted him and Chloe to get together since episode #1 and it still hasn't happened. I think that Millar and Gough should put Lana back w/ Lex, because they deserve eachother.

In other news, the writer's strike is officially over. Not that it matters a whole lot to me, because the only show I watch that it affected is Smallville. Last night, they revealed the top 24 in American Idol. Much to my disgust, my favorite was not selected. I fell in love w/ Drew Poppelreiter when he first auditioned in Dallas. He's a 24 year old farmer from Saltillo, Mississippi who has a voice like George Strait or Josh Turner. As he left last night, after being told that he had not been put through, he commented(in his southern drawl) that at least he would make it home in time for turkey season. What a cutie! Though I am of the opinion that Drew should've had a chance to be the next American Idol, I did choose a couple of faves in the top 24. I really like Micheal Johns. He's 29 and from Perth, Australia(where Heath Ledger was from). He also has an awesome voice(reminds me a bit of Chris Daughtry) and a gorgeous accent. My fave female is Ramiele Malubay, age 20 and from Florida. This girl has got a powerhouse for a voice.

So, being that it is Valentine's Day(or Single's Awareness Day), I have revised the qualifications for my perfect man. They are, as follows: looks like Tom Welling; sings like Josh Groban or Josh Turner; cooks like Kurtis Stone from Take Home Chef; plays tennis like Roger Federer or Andy Roddick; skates like Ryan Bradley; is a handy man like Andrew Dan-Jumbo from Take Home Handy Man and While You Were Out; and has an English, an Australian or a Southern accent. That's not too much to ask of God, is it? Lol, or I'll just take whoever is in His will for me. I'm easily appeased :)

I want a job! A job! I want a job!

Okay, so the title of this post is courtesy of a Lizzie McGuire episode where she was actually saying the word bra in place of job. But, really, I do want a job. I am getting sick of sitting at home . You know you've hit rock bottom when you're staying up every night until 2 am just to watch re-runs of The Hills and Laguna Beach. Sad, but true. I have applied for jobs, a whole bunch of them in fact. I've been searching for some kind of receptionist or secretary position in light of my foot injury while working at Macy's. Well, actually, my sister sat on my foot and sprained it. So, the whole having to stand all day wasn't working very well. Plus, I think that a re-occurance of my cerebral palsey may have added to the pain. Which brings me to needing a job where I don't have to stand all day. Unfortunately, many of these jobs require like at least a year of previous legal, receptionist or administrative experience. Well, how do they expect you to get the experience if they won't hire you unless you already have some? So, I may have to result to hitting the pavement to just find anywhere that will hire me, because I am getting to that point of desparation.

So, my sister, Hayley, recently got a dwarf hamster. She named her Stella. Though I like to call her Tchaikovsky #2, in rememberance of my former miniature hamster and my dad refers to her as One Bite, because that's all it would take to eat her. She is absolutely adorable and so tiny, hence the dwarf part ;) I had posted at one point about Hayley getting Beta fish. Well, Francis(the stupid one) finally went to his watery grave, a.k.a. the toilet. Freddy(or Sushi) is still swimming away and my sisters have added to the Beta family. Hayley got another one and named him Mulder(yes, X Files). Kcie, for once, got one of her own. She named him Buddy after Buddy the Elf(what's your favorite color? ;). Though, once again, my dad renamed him. This time, choosing the name Frohickey after one of Lone Gunmen on X Files. Of course, Kcie hates that show (weirdo) and refuses to refer to him as that name.

It's February, the month of obnoxiously, over-rated, rub it in our faces lovey-doveyness. As usual, I am Loveless in Tacoma. Oh well, I have chosen to not completely ignore Valentines Day this year, but instead to celebrate it by comforting myself w/ a bunch of my favorite movies. To most, they would probably be considered chick-flicks. My list thus far:
The Devil Wears Prada(already watched)
Just My Luck(I totally reccomend this movie to anyone, already watched)
Never Been Kissed
The Wedding Planner
The Perfect Man
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
The Wedding Singer
Ever After
Miss Congeniality
Sleepless in Seattle
While You Were Sleeping
The Lake House
Phantom of the Opera
High School Musical
High School Musical 2
Ella Enchanted
Sleeping Beauty
A Walk to Remember

If anyone has any more suggestions, definitely let me know. I'm open to more ideas.