Curve Ball

So...the tax "check" came in the mail today....there's only one hitch...

There was no check.

Yep, that's right - all $1600+ went to back child support. Back child support that accrued not because DH didn't pay it, but because the Child Support people canceled DH's child support obligation for about a year, and then reinstated it, and charged him backpay.

Yep, you read that correctly. THEY canceled the payment, yet he's responsible for their mistake. Observe, my friends, your government at work.

Slight Update

Man, I'm too pooped to peep.

I like my job a lot, but these Fridays working 9am to 7pm really take it out of a girl. Got paid today, though, so that's good - $350 extra in my pocket that I didn't have when I started. That'll go a long way towards finishing up my ELC order and some other stuff that I'm trying to get done.

Missed Conman's tee-ball game today, and I'll miss the one tomorrow, too. That's the only bad thing about the job - the late evenings cause me to miss his games. Oh well - hopefully when my schedule is shuffled around in the next 3 weeks because of my parents' vacation I'll catch more than one a week.

Anyway, that's about all I got for y'all tonight. Work again in the morning, but it's the short day, so I'm out by 5pm.

Ciao!

Here's the Count...

...of people I've pissed off today.

By my reckoning, I'm figuring it's at least 2 at this point.

Reflections on Other Bloggers

This week, my Orthodox friends are celebrating Holy Week. I have to say, their embracing of their religion is a stark difference to my own family's celebration of Christ's crucifixion. I would almost go as far as to say that I feel closer to that event this week than I did when my family celebrated "Western Easter" last month. It almost feels like it ought to be Holy Week for me, too, even though I'm a Baptist.

Reading through their posts on religion (both past and present posts), however, has me thinking about religion and spirituality and where the two of those converge. I personally think that they're two vastly different things; one you share with others, one is something that's very personal.

I'll start with my thoughts on religion. When I hear that word, it's almost inseparable from the word "organized". For me, religion is a building filled with people more concerned about what Jane's wearing and the behavior of Terry's children than they are with learning about and communing with their Lord. To me, that's highly offensive. Why? Because I don't care what you're wearing, you ought to be there to learn about scripture and try to figure out a roadmap for your life. It shouldn't matter if I wear holey jeans and a t-shirt; I'm there to worship and learn about God, not be a model in a fashion show.

I have a deep disdain for organized religion. Quite honestly, this disdain is disturbing to me. Christ said that an important part of worshiping God was the community, and worshiping together; the fact that "church" (aka organized religion) around here has devolved into little more than a continuing argument over who did what to whom, whose food you shouldn't eat, and whose clothes are woefully out of style. The one thing that I do find comfort in, however, is that DH and I can have a healthy "community" regarding spirituality, and I have good friends that are open to discussions of spirituality and comfort through God, as well. Besides, Christ said in Matthew 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That's assurance enough for me that when I'm having earnest, emotional conversations about spiritual matters with my friends or DH, Christ is there amongst us. That is my community, and as close to organized religion as I want to get.

Spirituality, however, is far different from "religion". You can be religious and be not at all spiritual (I call this "going through the motions"). On the flip side, you can be spiritual and not at all religious. I fall into the latter portion of those two extremes. I'm sure there are people who are as religious as they are spiritual, but I feel that they are probably few and far between, and those people have something pretty spectacular. I, however, am comfortable with my spirituality.

I talk to God (aka, pray), and I think he listens to my prayers. I have faith that He will not send anything my way that I can't handle (although He may test me at times), and I believe that He has shown me ways to grow in strength, confidence, emotionally, and as a mother, daughter and wife. In everything I do, He is first and foremost in my mind.

Now, with that said, where do I stand with Him? To be honest with you, I don't know. No one can know His mind, and I don't pretend to know where or how I'll end up. That, my friends, is where faith comes in. I have faith that the things I do, the beliefs I hold dear that the actions I take are enough for Him.

Where do the two meet? Well, in my life, they diverged a long, long time ago. Religion reared its ugly head in my spiritual life, and for a time, I was shaken. No, shaken isn't a strong enough word. I was undone.

I had lived my entire life for Christ, or so I had thought. I found a church where I was happy with both my community and the doctrine. I became a part of that community by singing, helping with youth lessons and leading youth prayer. I did nothing...nothing...that would jeopardize my life path in either my church or my personal life. I had a "good boyfriend" who took me to church every Sunday and Thursday night (for youth group) and the support of my friends and family. I did the normal teenage things (well, relatively normal - I didn't have a sip of alcohol nor a drag of a cigarette until I was almost 20), but nothing illegal and nothing that would mortally endanger me.

Then, it happened.

The rug was jerked out from under me. My friends, my church and my boyfriend turned against me. To this day, I have still yet to find out their reason why. I was ostracized from my church and from my circle of friends, and I felt like I was being ostracized from God himself. Why would he do this to me at such a difficult time in my life? What had I done, what sin had I committed, that would merit this sort of treatment? For years I struggled with this, and wondered what it was about me that had caused everyone - even my God - to turn away from me. One day, finally, when I was completely exhausted with myself (and quite honestly, near taking my own life), it hit me; it wasn't a failing in me or my God that caused this tragedy to happen - it was a failing in the people I thought were my friends.

I guess you could say that even though I "found Jesus" and was baptized at the age of 13, I truly "found God" when I was about 20. My spirituality and religion diverged at 16, and they've never crossed paths since then. Am I a Christian? Yes. I. Am. No two ways about it. Am I religious? Absolutely not. Am I spiritual? Absolutely. I have found my path after years of floundering around in the dark, and I'm happy to be on it. Will I ever become religious? I might, one day, if God sends my path in that direction again.

So for those of you struggling out there, remember, religion and spirituality aren't necessarily the same thing. Just because you're not religious doesn't mean that you're not spiritual, and it doesn't mean that you can't have a good and healthy relationship with God. Also remember, though, that you're not alone. You've got friends out here that are ready, willing and able to help you form a spiritual community around you that can help you find your own way out of the dark.

Tuesday's Checklist for the Week

Here's what I've got to get done this week:

1. Work today;
2. Take a test at the DMV on Wednesday or Thursday (no, not my driving test, something else);
3. More housework and laundry Wednesday and Thursday;
4. Find out exactly who is and who isn't coming to the ELC;
5. Find out when tee-ball practice (if any) is; and
6. Work on guild project asap and send out emails for guild project.

For those of you, I apologize for being such a control freak. The Don did a fantastic job delegating yesterday and I ought to learn to do the same sometimes.

Had the April New Member Orientation Meeting yesterday night, and that went well, too. I need to make a mental note to have it earlier in the month in May, especially with ELC approaching. Maybe I can convince someone else to hold it next month.

All I got on a Tuesday morning before work.

I Am The Tooth Fairy

No, no quizzes today (I can hear you all breathe a collective sigh of relief). The high point of my Sunday, however, is this:


My dear, sweet Conman has lost his first tooth! He's so cute with his little holey grin. Anyway, in a moment of motherly "awwwwwww" ness, here's the tale.

Con was at Sunday School yesterday morning with my parents. He reached for a crayon in Sunday School class, and when he did the little girl sitting next to him raised up and her head bumped into his chin. It knocked the already loose tooth even further out of its socket. There was a little blood, but my fella said, "I didn't cry, though, mom. It didn't hurt. There was just a little blood." Once my dad got him to their house, it just took one good yank on the tooth and out it came. Conman said it didn't bleed when it was finally out. I suppose all the bleeding was done when head made contact with chin.

When he got home he proudly handed me his tooth in a Ziploc bag and said, "I have to put it under my pillow, mom, or the Tooth Fairy won't bring me any money!"

The kid came to me at 8:30pm on Sunday night and asked to go to bed. This kid never does that. More often than not, he's asking to stay up later than he should. I think when he went to bed he was as anxious for a visit from the Tooth Fairy as he is about a visit from Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

So, I got to be a fairy tonight. I waited until about 12:30am to sneak into his room, remove the still-bagged tooth and replace it with a one dollar bill. I think he'll be pleased with that; we don't have much, and even though the kids at school have told him that a tooth will fetch the (much inflated) price of five bucks, I think he'll understand. He's a good boy. He deserves that five dollars, I wish I could give it to him, but one dollar will have to do.

Anyway, that's my mommy-moment for the week.

Attack of the Quiz Monster Part II

You Are 32% Fake

The real you is something you embrace and don't mind enhancing. You know that a few beauty secrets aren't a big deal, as long as you look good.

Are You A Fake Girl?

Your Power Element is Metal

Your power colors: white, gold, and silver Your energy: contracting Your season: fall You are persistent (and maybe even a little bit stubborn). If you see something you want, you go for it. You have a lot of strength, and it's difficult to get you down. Very logical, you tend to analyze everything going on in your life.

What's Your Power Element?

You Inner Gender is Female

You're sensitive, caring, and willing to connect with anyone who's open to you. You make friends easily, and you enjoy all sorts of conversations. You understand most people you meet - better than they understand themselves. You're totally a woman... or at the very least, your soul is female.

What's Your Inner Gender?

You Are 48% Weirdo

You're definitely quite strange, but you can act like a normal person when you have to. (But just because you can act normally, it certainly doesn't mean you want to!) You have normal aspects to your personality... but you usually don't choose to emphasize them.

Are You A Weirdo?

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

You Are 60% Emo

You're not emo, but you're plenty thoughtful, unique, and even a little angsty.

Are You Emo?

You Are a Chimera

You are very outgoing and well connected to many people. Incredibly devoted to your family and friends, you find purpose in nurturing others. You are rarely alone, and you do best in the company of others. You are incredibly expressive, and people are sometimes overwhelmed by your strong emotions.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

You Are Bettie Page

Girl next door with a wild streak You're a famous beauty - with unique look And the people like you are cultish about it

What Famous Pinup Are You?

Your Spelling is Good

You got 8/10 correct. Your spelling is generally pretty decent. You are prone to a few mistakes, but the mistakes you make are pretty forgivable.

How's Your Spelling?

You Are 62% Jealous

You're a pretty jealous person, and you've started to let it really effect your life. While it's natural to feel a little envious of what people have, it's never healthy to take it to these extremes. Focus on what you've got going on. And improve on the things you don't like. Being truly happy with yourself is the only way to chase out the green eyed monster!

How Jealous Are You?

You Should Get An All Over Tattoo

Outrageous and funky Because you should never have to choose just one tattoo

What Tattoo Should You Get?

You Are 25% Left Brained, 75% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

You Are An Extrovert!

You have a ton of friends, perhaps more friends than anyone you know. Nothing to do on Friday night? No problem for you to find the action. You're friendly, easy to know, and you seem to get along with almost everyone. You love to express yourself - and everyone knows a good deal about you. Whether you're giving your opinion or sharing your dreams, you don't keep anything in.

Are You An Extroverted or Introverted Girl?