1) Halloween
I am pretty much anti-Halloween. I don't make a big deal about it, I just don't observe or celebrate it. And that includes giving candy to little beggars I have never seen before in my life. If there is candy in my house, I am not giving it to kids I don't know, I am going to eat it. Oh wait... I have type 2 diabetes, so I had better not keep candy around. :)
Seriously, I do have issues with the holiday and would not let my kids celebrate it, if I had any. I might do something to substitute it. There is just so much evil and bad stuff associated with it. Ghosts, witches, vampires....and the like.
And in this day and age, is it really smart to send your kids to people's houses you don't know? I think not. I have a couple of good books on the subject, and they just cemented what I already believe.....Christians are better off not celebrating it. However, I am not going to condemn people who dress up their kids and take them to people they know. Now telling kids there is a Santa Claus......
2) Two articles
I read two great articles today on a similar subject: someone coming out as gay.
a) The first is geared specifically towards parents whose child comes out to them as gay. Churchleaders.com published it, and I feel the writer did an excellent job on it. That can be found here: What if Your Child Is Gay?
b) The second I am a little hesitant to share, but it IS good. There is a website I have been critical of called Your Other Brothers. It is a blog run by several guys, mostly younger ones, that all struggle with same-sex attractions. The articles are written by each of the guys separately. They have become known to publish some stuff that I and others feel is problematic, such as one where they were raving about how wonderful some gay show is that has a lot of sexual innuendos and jokes about male anatomy (according to someone who watched a trailer for the show). They refuse to see or admit they some of their posts could cause weaker guys to fall who could stumble by some things they post. I and some others commented with those thoughts, and was shot down. The main guy who runs it refused to listen, and shot back hard calling us some rude things, and blocked some of us from commenting.
However, I still get their emails and they do have a good post occasionally, such as the one I got today. The author is a very young guy who I think is the same one that posted about how great the gay show is, but he hit a home run with this one. I do not agree with everything they post, nor do I recommend reading everything they write...but I do recommend this: When Someone Comes Out to You.
And I doubt there are many Christians who realize what a big thing it is for someone to tell them this. It is a big step, and it should mean something to the person hearing it.
3) Two posts
I have discussed how divisive politics has become, and how scary it is getting. There were two posts that stood out to me today. One was on Twitter, shared by someone I follow, and the other was on Facebook. One was good, and one was offensive. One was from a Democrat, and one was from a Republican, a devout Trump supporter. Guess which one was good, and which was offensive......
The Democrat: I googled him to see which party he was from, as I had never heard of him - or her:
The Republican:
I actually did something I try not do to often: I deleted this guy. I am not a Trump fan, and I do weary of so many Trump posts from his supporters....but that is one thing. It is another to post things insulting we who honestly feel it was voting against our values and conscience to vote for him. This guy claims to be a Christian, and you would think he would get that. Sadly, this is only one of many posts like this. And I don't get it. Trump beat the bigger evil, so why is he still raving at we who didn't vote for him? Why does it matter?
Here is the truth of the matter: uncivility exists in both parties. I have told Obama supporters how divisive he was and how he stirred up hate among certain groups and races..... and they argue and refuse to admit it. Same thing with Trump. He is very divisive and has stirred up more hate and uncivilty, but you can't convince the majority of his supporters of that.
And I always want to make it clear not everyone who voted for the guy is gung ho and over the top like the guy above.
4) Conversation with a cop
The hospital I work at started something new at the beginning of this month. They cut back on security guards, which isn't really a good thing for a few reasons. The reason they cut back, is they hired the local police department to have a police officer on duty in the E.R. 24/7.
Security is not armed in any way, so it is nice knowing we have an armed police officer at the hospital.
One of them is super friendly, a young guy of 27 years of age. I had seen him before - believe me, the police are at hospitals a lot - but he introduced himself to me last week. This morning, he wandered over to the main lobby for a while - he said he walks around a bit instead of just staying in the E.R. waiting room.
He chatted with me for probably around 15 minutes. It was interesting to get his take on the shootings and the anti-cop rhetoric. He was careful what he said politically since he was in uniform, but I could tell how he felt about certain things and people.
None of us like cops watching our speed, or setting up speed traps - and I still think they should be allowed to sit by bars - but they are doing a tough job and protect us. Thanks to Obama and the liberal media, they have had a target on their backs the last several years.
So tell them you appreciate what they do. I did when I was talking to officer Josh today.
I had asked an officer at the hospital once if the term "cop" bothered him, and he said he doesn't like it. Josh, however, used the term several times. So who knows.
5) New med
I mentioned the possibility of blood pressure medicine...that has happened. I had told the nurses in my doctor's office what my reading was Friday. They kicked it back to my doctor, and he prescribed a 10 mg blood pressure medicine.
I braced myself when I picked it up. My sugar test strips were so expensive, I prepared myself for the worst. And I was still shocked....they were $1.77. That obviously didn't hurt my finances.
I had a nurse check it this morning, and it was 140 over 96, down from 163 over 107 Friday. I doubt the pill would work that fast, as I had only taken one....but who knows.
I used to work as the greeter in the E.R, so it is handy knowing so many nurses over there for such times.
6) The cute hospital guys
OK, this one may weird you out, especially the title of this section....but if you read this blog, you know I am not attracted to women, but to men. Everyone is different, and I have discovered that I am not attracted to guys who I feel accept/like me, and who do not intimidate me. I may recognize a guy is attractive, but it ends there. I'll give two examples, names changed:
Mike, the security guard: tall, dark, and handsome...age 20 when I met him my first day as a security guard. He shook my hand, and introduced himself...and I was really attracted. He doesn't work there anymore, but he was a great kid. He'd ask me to walk around with him, chatted with me a lot, and didn't treat me as someone old enough to be his dad...not that he didn't treat me with respect.
At some point, he just became Mike, the guard....not Mike the hot guy. It really hit me how much things had changed one day in the break room when he and I were in there. His shoulder was bothering him, and he and took his shirt off and was trying to put some kind pad on his back. There is this shirtless, very looking guy there, and I walked over and helped him adjust the pad and held it til he got his shirt back on......and I felt nothing.
Rick, the nurse: again, a very nice looking guy, probably mid to late 20's when I took the greeter job in the E.R. He quickly became my favorite nurse to work with in triage, and was always super nice to me.. and still is. He always speaks when he sees me. And again, the attraction left at some point, and he just became a really nice coworker I liked to have in triage when I worked.
He is now a nursing supervisor, and has not changed at all. As I sat getting my blood pressure taken in triage this morning, he walked in. I told him I wasn't a patient, but was just getting my blood pressure taken. Megan, the nurse in triage, said "isn't it nice Mark dressed up to see us?" I had taken my blazer off for the cuff, and had on a new shirt I like with a black tie. "Mike" walked past me, patted my shoulder, rubbed my back, and said "you look really nice, Mark." It made my day to hear that from a guy like him, and that was it. There was a day when it would have felt differently to me, but I like him, he likes me, and accepts me.
There are so many facets to the gay/SSA struggle. One of those is comparison/envy. Ironically, the nicest looking guys with SSA can feel inferior and envious of other guys. We tend to be attracted to what we are not, and what we feel opposite to.
7) Healthier eating
Since my doctor's visit, I am being more careful eating. My last few days at work, I have eaten cheddar popcorn and some almonds. Today, I had a cup of stuffed pepper soup. Then for supper, I don't go crazy, but I don't watch my carbs as much. Tonight, I had more taco salad, and put some Doritos in. Stale Doritos. That made it easy to get rid of the rest of the bag.
My sugar medicine helps weight loss, and my doc said they prescribe it to people who are not diabetic to help them lose weight. Someone told me the reason it helps, is it doesn't let your food stay around as long.... and man, since he doubled that medication, I can testify to that.
But I am losing weight. I had lost 4 pounds between doctor's visits in May and two weeks ago. I took my weight after that visit, and was 228. I have been wavering between 224 and 225 for a few days, but hit a new low today. (That is one time hitting new low is good!) I never weigh myself during the day, only mornings. When I was changing clothes after work, I hopped on the scale. It said 221.8. I think I shall party when I get below 220, as that has been a long time.
I am going to really work on not just watching salt and carbs, but on weight loss. I have a ton of clothes that don't fit me that are in plastic totes and garbage bags. It would be awesome to get back in those.
8) Christmas shopping:
I did some more online Christmas shopping. Last night, I did an order to Christianbook.com since they had free shipping after hitting $35. I finished off both sisters and their husbands. I also bought myself a few books.....they were really cheap, and I couldn't pass them up.
Tonight, I placed another order to Lakeside Collections, which is where I ordered from last week. By the way, that order came today and I am very happy with everything. I liked what I got my dad so well, that I ordered all 3 nephews one. They had free shipping again, so I took advantage of that again. And I bought myself a couple of things.
I love the look of an old red antique truck, and have a few Christmas decorations with that theme. Lakeside has a whole kitchen collection that is that theme. And it is AWESOME. To be honest, I wouldn't really want the whole thing. They are Christmas themed, and I don't need Christmas themed canisters and bowls...or even salt and pepper shakers..... I have 5 or 6 nautical themed ones already. And my kitchen is nautical themed...along with the dining room and both bathrooms. And yeah, I bought a couple of nautical things for myself tonight too.
I did buy the large magnet on the dish washer, but it will go on my refrigerator since I am the only dish washer here. I wouldn't mind the rug and dish towels, but I spent enough. It was only $5.98. And yes, it is as big as it looks, according to the dimensions given.
9) Blogging
I would like to get back to doing one blog post on one subject, but most of the things that come to mind are things like I have blogged about lately that don't require much space. Maybe one of these days.
10) Reading
I am reading two books right now, which I rarely do. One is fiction and one is non-fiction, so that does make a difference. The non-fiction one is by the only sports figure I am remotely interested in. You get bonus points if you know who that is. :)
The book kind of sounds like a self-help book, but it isn't. I am only about 4-5 chapters in, and he has written some great stuff. I would already recommend it by what I have read so far.
And that is it for now. I am off tomorrow (Yay!), but I do need to go to bed some time.
So, did you guess correctly? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment