The Road to Monday is Paved with Good Intentions

So, the weekend started out with all good intentions to do lots of homework and relax a lot. I promise. But, I should not make promises like that because then Life stands in the way. However, this time it was life being kind and charitable because obviously Life knew that I needed a fun and random weekend with no homework. (I'll have my grades mailed to Life at the end of the term.)

Saturday found me at the National Forest, hanging out with the guys and gals and Justin, who was leaving the next day. It was really good to be able to just leave everything behind and go up to the mountains. How beautiful it is up there! I miss camping so much! Yes, I am an avid camper. I love the outdoors! It is God's way! Anyway, Larry made some excellent hamburgers, so excellent in fact that when I got back to my rooom later, I realized that I was wearing some of the hamburger juice on my shirt. Thank you, Larry! :o) After we ate, we just sat around while AJ playing the guitar and we just sang. I was so happy during those few moments. We were sitting on the side of a mountain after the sun had sunk behind the peaks and we all were just singing together. It was so peaceful. I am going to be one sad little girl come May.

Sunday was awesome! After Mass, the girls piled into Niki's car and headed to Manassass for Christy's surprise Bridal Shower. It was a success. She had no idea and we spend the afternoon playing Bridal Bingo (which I won) and watching Christy open her gifts. I had, again, all good intentions to leave straight from the Shower and head back to study. But, God knew I needed some fun. After having held a two minute coversation with Kelly and her mom, I realized I had just said yes to an invitation to dinner. My conscience tried to ruin my plans, but I stubbornly ignored it. I am very glad that I did.

I have not had that much fun in a long time. It was so good to be with Kelly's family for an evening. Nora had me laughing almost non-stop and Bridget was kind enough to show me her beautiful Irish dancing dresses, which I had never seen before. I also had real Cow's milk for the first time in my life. It was delicious! I had such a good time and Mrs. Mulhern was an excellent hostess! It will be a memory I will cherish for a long time.

So, while I know that the road to the hot place is paved with good intentions, I also know that God sometimes has us not fulfill our intentions for better reasons. I had an awesome weekend. And now, I get to go cram for class! :o)

Those Nearest and Dearest

I know I don't speak for myself when I say that I am blessed to have so many people in my life who love me. I am blessed with many beautiful, holy, and fun friends who care for me because I'm me. I have a large family who, as well, cares a great deal for me. And believe me, these incredible and fundamental emotions do not go un-returned. These people in my life, family and friends, are greatly valued, so much so that many of them have no idea quite how grateful I am.

My mother always says that each person's life is a stage and the people in our lives, actors. God puts all those actors in our lives for a reason. Some people flit across the stage and pass out of our lives in a short time. Others, however, play a lead role in our lives. Friends are a good example, but even deeper is family. These people we call Mom and Dad, Brother and Sister have so much value in our lives. They affect us in so many ways and leave a lasting impact, so much more than that of our friends.

But, sometimes don't always return this huge favor. Sometimes, we take for granted the presence of people in our lives. We appreciate them and we love them, but we don't work hard enough to show them how much they mean to us. Sometimes, we dont' even bother to try to reach out to them when they need us most.

And then, one day they're gone. It's too late. You had your chances to hold them a second or two longer or to spend a little extra time with them. They have left our stage. And as desperately as we call out to them, they no longer can hear our cries.

I see, at home and at school, people ignoring and taking for granted the people in their lives. Friends don't fully appreciate those lives God has place so generously in thier world. But, even deeper and more fundamentally than friends, siblings even make this fatal mistake. Brothers will ignore each other and spend more time with thier friends. Sisters will pass up the awesome love of each other and replace each other with friends. What a travesty!

These people will not be around forever. They go away and sometimes, they go away in a way that was never imagined or expected. I am not just speaking of death, because there are so many things that can happen to someone you love. And you'll try to call and keep up with them, but they don't want to hear from you. Your e-mails will go unanswered. You'll get so angry with yourself for not appreciating them, not reaching out enough. This situation is not at all uncommon.

So, while you still have your brother the in the dorm or your sister down the hall, reach out. Love them. Inspire them. Hold them. Because there may come a day when you can't reach them at all. No one can ever fully appreciate the love between siblings. Until they are gone.

What's That Smell?

Ok, so a thought struck me while I was shopping yesterday. While my mother was looking through the meat case ("Something from the meatcase, Linda?" I hope some of you know from where that quote comes...) I happened to, while glancing around during a moment of boredom, see a can of air freshener. It was a typical can, Glade was the brand if my memory serves me right. I looked down to see the scent. Glistening Snow, the can read. Suddenly, a thought struck me. What the heck does Glistening Snow smell like? I mean, for those of you who live in a normal place where it snows at this time of year (because it's been in the seventies here), could you kindly go outside the next time it snows and shove your face into the white stuff and inhale really hard. Then promptly call me. Last I checked, glistening snow, itself, does not have a particular smell. And if it does, would one really want their living room or bathroom to smell like Glistening Snow?

I found a similar case in the laundry aisle. One of the detergent claimed to smell like Sparkling Ocean. I, for one, happen to have this detergent at school. The detergent smells very wonderful, and my clothes always smell quite fresh. However, it does not smell like sparkling ocean. Why in the world would one want to smell like stale salt water? I prefer smelling fresh, but that's just me.

When we made our way into the cleaning agents aisle, I knew I had found quite possibly the dumbest items inwhich to put scents. Toilet bowl cleaner?! There were three scents. Now honestly, and I may regret asking this question, but who really gets close enough to the inside of their toilet bowl to know what it smells like. The only possible candidate that I can think of is the family dog, if you have one big enough to complete this task. Would your canine friend (although, I don't think it would be my friend if he spent his time in the toilet bowl) really care if the bowl smelled like Pacific Ocean, Country Air, or Country Apples?
Maybe I was thinking too much, but I just couldn't get over the principle of it all. I mean, really.

So, for me I'll just stick to Original, but who's to say that's any better? For the rest of you, it is my hopes that your living room, laundry, and toilet bowl all smell really...good. Whether good is defined in glistening snow, pacific ocean, or sparkling ocean is totally up to you. Just keep it to your self. Especially the toilet bowl stuff.