Hello....Anyone out there?

Hello!  Anyone out there?....I thought I would blog again just to see if anyone out there would respond.  I miss the English 226 class for which this blog was created.  I miss writing with the knowledge that what I have to say will be critiqued by others in a constructive way.  The critiques and the grade helped me to strive to do my best.  Now I am just trying to cope with finding a job, staying a nonsmoker, and crocheting.  I walk with my dogs and my Mom a lot.  She is also trying to find a new job...she hasn't quit the one she has but she wants to find a different school.  We do a lot of talking while we walk.  If we aren't finished talking, we keep walking.  We both have come to the conclusion that one has to know someone to get a good job because job politics is in every sector.  I don't know anyone.  I do need a job.  Anyone out there know anyone who needs a good employee?

Goals

I am sad this is the last required blog.  I have learned a lot from blogging because I had to come up with something to say every week to all my classmates.  Sometimes that is hard, especially when all I wanted to do was complain I didn't really have anything to say.  I am like that about my essays too.  I still don't have any idea what I will write about for the segmented essay.  I'm sure it will come to me in a flash!...I need at least 2 days after I write my initial draft to have time away from what I have written in order to take a look at it again before making changes and submitting that first draft!  It's not that I am a worrier, I just keep rejecting ideas that pop into my head.  The latest idea that came to me was really for this blog... it is time to reassess my goals.  Not like a New Year's resolution kind of thing.  Just a look inward to see where I am headed.

So, I have some goals that I want to accomplish.  Thanks to Nick Flowers' blog, I am seriously considering quitting smoking.  I know it is time.  But, I will need something to do with my hands that is productive.  (Of course, I have already rejected the idea of writing a book!)  So, I have decided to check into learning to crochet!  I decided to do this because my maternal great grandmother has some awesome patterns for crocheting that are even in her own handwriting!...what a treasure!!  I also want to get a job this summer so I can start saving some money for moving out of the house one day.  Looking further inward, I also decided to make it a goal to either say or do something nice for someone, anyone, every day.  I also have a goal to be more thankful for the things I have been blessed with.  Hopefully these goals will be met and I will be a better person!  I think that goals, both short and long term, are a good thing to have as they give purpose to our lives.


This class has been really fun to me and I am definitely going to miss it!  Good luck to each of you as you accomplish your own goals!

Maria Cimino

Random Ramblings

Trying to decide what I am going to wear for the upcoming Tim McGraw concert has me reassessing the contents of my closet.  I don't want to spend money on something new when I have lots to choose from.  I realize that I have been blessed with so many things...great parents, a nice home, food, clothes, my dogs!, good friends, and so many clothes.  So, I decided to donate about half of what is in my closet to Providence House.  I finally decided what to wear to the concert once there was a lot less to choose from!  It seemed like putting things in the donation bag got easier with each item as I began to think about those less fortunate and the situation that so many people in Japan are in today.  Grand scale disaster bothers me for a long time.  Of course, my dad has called the condition of my bedroom a "grand scale disaster" a few times but I know he was just trying to motivate me to get rid of unnecessary junk.


My oldest brother, Sam,  who is a medical sales rep in Houston has decided to make a career change.  He got accepted into law school!  He wants to be a contract lawyer.  My other brother, Michael, also lives in Houston and is a dentist there.   (Now he wishes he had listened to my mom about learning Spanish!)  I am thinking about moving to Houston one day also.  There is so much more to do there. 

A good friend of mine just found out that she and her husband are expecting!  I am so happy for her!  The doctor had told her that for various medical reasons that she would have a hard time getting pregnant.  So, this news is a miracle blessing for them! 

This blog does not seem to have much continuity but I have just been feeling rather random lately.  I guess I am just ready for a break.  I didn't even feel like going out with friends this weekend.  I just wanted to hang around the house and have some "me" time.  In addition to cleaning out my closet I have enjoyed lots of chips and hot sauce (my Favorite junk food!), reading a good book, walking with my dogs, and connecting with friends on Facebook.  And, as usual, with another upcoming essay, my mind has been in a turmoil as to what to write about!  The topic is always the hardest thing for me to decide.  I have really enjoyed this class and am going to miss it when the semester ends.  I enjoy reading everybody's blogs and hearing other people's points of view. 

Great News!

I am So Excited!  I got The BEST news today from my best friend!  We have tickets to attend the Tim McGraw concert on April 10th...she entered us in a drawing to be able to meet Tim in person and listen to him give a private concert before the concert starts at CenturyTel Center...I cannot believe I get to meet Tim McGraw!!  He is one of my favorite country singers!  I have listened to his songs since I was 8 years old!  He even starred in my favorite movie "The Blind Side."  I need to start deciding on what I am going to wear!  This good news is definitely what I needed to pick me up after the sadness that has engulfed me in the  past couple of weeks. 

More good news is that my Mom is doing lots better after her surgery!  She has not driven her car, a 1970 red VW Bug that she keeps in mint condition, since her disc ruptured in November.  This morning she decided to try to start her car and Voila!...it started on the first try!  She was bragging about her car to my dad while I was laughing!  The pain she still has in her back prevents her from driving yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear her start her car a few more times just to hear the engine!  Her days of wearing red high top Converse tenny shoes are probably over, however, since she is unable to bend over to tie shoes.  I told her that it was time she "got with the times" and wear slip on shoes!  Her grin tells me that it will only be a matter of time before she is both wearing her tenny shoes and driving her bug again!

Slate URL

"Stop, Thief!  Thank You.  Why so little looting in Japan?  It's not just about honesty."
by Christopher Beam
March 16, 2011


http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/

Three's

They say that things happen in "three's."  So far, that has proven true many times.  I have been to 3 funerals in the past 2 weeks.  Today I found out that my Mom's uncle has an inoperable brain tumor.  Life seems so fragile sometimes.


  Today was such nice weather I decided to help my dad in the yard.  Today was also my dog's birthday...Ruby Jean is now 3 years old!  My mom always makes what she calls a "Poo-Poo" cake in celebration....so funny!...she makes a batch of brownies and takes it out of the oven before it is all the way done, shapes it into a "turd", and lets it cool on a platter.  Then we take a picture of the birthday girl, wearing a paper birthday hat in front of the poo-poo cake that has the appropriate amount of candles in it, and sing "Happy Birthday!"   It is a funny tradition that my mom started when we were kids and she keeps it up with each dog!!  Of course, they don't eat the brownies, but we do!

Tonight I am getting together with some friends.  It seems like we have all had stressful weeks.  Sometimes having to shelve one's emotions in order to get schoolwork done helps take the focus off of grief.  I am hoping that all of us can help each other by listening, sharing feelings, and doing something fun together.

Reading on my Kindle!

This past Christmas I was surprised with a gift of a Kindle!  I love to read and read a lot of different kinds of books.  Recently I purchased "The Autobiography of Mark Twain."  Mark Twain died in 1910 and wanted his autobiography published only 100 years after his death.  There are a lot of boring parts to this book because Twain seems to go on and on with a lot of detail about such silly things (a description of a room for example), but I have learned some interesting facts that I did not know before:  Mark Twain was a friend of Ulysses S. Grant and they first met in 1868; he once had to move to San Francisco (1864) to escape prosecution for dueling; he knew Helen Keller; and he outlived all 3 of his children and his wife. 

The reason that Mark Twain did not want his autobiography published until 100 years after his death was because he stated opinions of issues and people that he did not want anyone living at that time to know about.  For example, while living in Italy for a while, Mark Twain referred to his landlady, a Countess, with these remarks:  "She is excitable, malicious, malignant, vengeful, unforgiving, selfish, stingy, avaricious, coarse, vulgar, profane, obscene, a furious blusterer on the outside and at heart a coward.  Her lips are familiar with lies, deceptions, swindles and treacheries as her nostrils with breath" (Kindle 30%).  Too many adjectives and commas, don't you think?
Mark Twain was quite the character as he also stated in a speech at his 70th Birthday Dinner "I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any.  Exercise is loathsome.  And it cannot benefit when you are tired; I was always tired" (Kindle 83%).  I think I would have loved to be able to meet such a humorous writer!
(Note that there are no page numbers on a Kindle, only a percentage of how much of the book has been read.)

This weekend will be full of homework and reading my Kindle will not be on my agenda.   With the wonderful Spring weather it is hard to concentrate on schoolwork but I intend to take some breaks with my Dachshunds!