Jo’s BJU Approved Blog

I thought the lake looked cool on my way to work on Saturday so I took a picture.

It was a long weekend. This is me in my 11th hour of working on Saturday.

Every time I see the Swedish Fish/Sour Patch Kids display at the campus store, I hear Mr. Wuestner (our high school’s announcer for basketball) doing his little advertisement for the senior candy stand. He would always say something creative about the menu during half time and sometimes timeouts, but he always ended by saying to stop by the senior candy table and pick up a pack of “the international favorite…SWEDISH FISH!” I’m not sure what was so magical about them, but they always made me so happy. Last night I gave in and bought a pack, and the feeling was still there. Memories washed over me of anticipating the Friday night home basketball games as a child. I would sit in the gym hoping that my dad and aunt would have enough school work to do that they would stay afterschool long enough for me to see the boy’s game. My aunt would give me $1 to get a soda and a pack of candy. Once I got to high school the money was mine now, but the excitement was still there. I would watch the JV games and eat my Swedish Fish along with my cheese fries and Diet Coke. Sometimes when we would lose and I was sad, I would go back for a second pack (or maybe a 3rd especially the 54-3 loss senior year). It is funny how little things like that can hold such vivid memories. I hope I always have that warm feeling when I see Swedish Fish.

So the stupid Hi5 website sent an e-mail invite to all 125 e-mail address in my address book. So anyone that reads this that got one, I apologize. I did not tell it to do that.

I know it isn’t Christmas, but I’m choosing random topics from webpages to write on and I wanted to do this one.

1. Muppet Christmas Carol-I love the muppets, Charles Dickens, and Christmas. Obviously they strayed from the book a bit, but I just really love the muppets. (No mocking, you know you love the muppets too.)

2. It’s a Wonderful Life-family tradition

3. The Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart-stays closest to the book that I’ve seen. Excellent movie.

4. I’ll be Home for Christmas-dumb but makes me laugh

5. Claymation Christmas-childhood memories of forcing my entire family to watch it every Christmas over and over again. It never got old to me.

I’m working on finding a poem to write a paper on for my Poetry class, these are just 2 I enjoyed reading.

“The Old Maid”
by Sarah Teasdale
I saw her in a Broadway car,
The woman I might grow to be;
I felt my lover look at her
And then turn suddenly to me.
Her hair was dull and drew no light,
And yet its color was as mine;
Her eyes were strangely like my eyes,
Tho’ love had never made them shine.

Her body was a thing grown thin,
Hungry for love that never came;
Her soul was frozen in the dark,
Unwarmed forever by love’s flame.

I felt my lover look at her
And then turn suddenly to me –
His eyes were magic to defy
The woman I shall never be.

“Only in Sleep”
Only in sleep I see their faces,
Children I played with when I was a child,
Louise comes back with her brown hair braided,
Annie with ringlets warm and wild.

Only in sleep Time is forgotten —
What may have come to them, who can know?
Yet we played last night as long ago,
And the doll-house stood at the turn of the stair.

The years had not sharpened their smooth round faces,
I met their eyes and found them mild —
Do they, too, dream of me, I wonder,
And for them am I too a child?

Sarah Teasdale

So my best friend Holly is taking off for good ol’ Montana. I’m hoping to be able to go out there sometime soon and see her and Caleb and of course the baby Josh

Mr. Brownfield spoke Sunday afternoon on Philippians 2 and he started off the message talking about many pratical applications of having the mind of Christ. One of them he mentioned was basically not letting your emotions control you. We so often excuse our behavior and don’t really acknowledge that it was wrong. Saying stuff like, oh I’m sorry I said that but I’m so tired, or I’m having a bad day or whatever you want to fill the blank in with there.

He asked a question, that sounded funny to me at first but was really thought provoking.
“Can you imagine Jesus being grumpy? Can you imagine Jesus treating others unkindly because he was having a bad day?”

It certainly wasn’t for lack of “bad days.” Christ was treated injustly time after time. I’m sure he was tired and everything. It just made me really consider my reactions to things.

Philippians 2:1-8 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,[b] being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross
(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”–Oscar Levant

“There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line. “–Oscar Levant

“Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.”–Oscar Wilde

“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”-Mark Twain

In retrospect, my drinking the 5th 20 oz diet mountain dew of the day probably was not in my best interest.

RULES FOR WORK

1. Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 4:00 and then bring it to me. The challenge of a deadline is refreshing.

2. If it’s really a rush job, run in and interrupt me every 10 minutes to inquire how it’s going. That helps. Even better, hover behind me, and advise me at every keystroke.

3. Always leave without telling anyone where you are going. It gives me a chance to be creative when someone asks where you are.

4. If my arms are full of papers, boxes or supplies don’t open the door for me. I need to learn how to function as a paraplegic and opening doors with no arms is good training in case I should ever be injured and lose all use of my limbs.

5. If you give me more than one job to do, don’t tell me which is priority. I am psychic.

6. Do your best to keep me late. I adore this office and really have nowhere to go or anything to do. I have no life beyond work.

7. If you don’t like my work tell everyone. I like my name to be popular in conversations.

8. If you have special instructions for a job, don’t write them down. In fact, save them until the job is almost done. No use confusing me with useful information.

9. Never introduce me to the people you’re with. I have no right to know anything. In the corporate food chain, I am plankton.

10. Tell me all your little problems. No one else has any and it’s nice to know someone is less fortunate. I especially like the story about having to pay so many taxes on the bonus check you received for being such a good manager.

My great friend Joe asked what I thought of Kanye West last night. I’m sure he was probably referring to music, but I definitely let my opinion on his looks be known.