moving to Southern California
so, I'm moving to Southern California, I have decided. I feel that the Lord is leading me there (at least, I hope He is!).
I have many things to figure out before I get there, although I have three more months here--I'm not driving out there until the first week of Oct. , because that is when my lease is up in my current apartment. I have been looking for Christian roommates on-line, although I'm not exactly sure what area I will move to. I don't want to be right in Los Angeles, I would like to be South of Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, but that is a very expensive area.
I can't wait to go (sort of) but I know it is going to be a huge transition in my life. Also, I feel like three months is such a long time, that I have plenty of time to prepare, but I know that Oct. 1 is going to be here very quickly, as long as I have lots of work to do.
Also, I don't know how to tell my family that I'm leaving them, and hopefully never coming back to the Midwest. I got a book from the library called "Retire in California." I thought I would read through it b/c it describes all of the various areas to live "for every budget" it says. I will just tell them that I want to retire in California, of course, I will just have to work there for the next thirty years first.
So, that is the plan: I am going to take a vow of poverty and move to California.
I'm moving to California, and I'm not kidding this time
I would like to move to Southern CA in October (I'm not kidding this time). Mostly because I'm tired of the winters here, the weather really brings me down. Also, I think it would be helpful to have some more space, let's say 2,000 miles, away from my immediate family, who all live in the Chicago area.
I can't won't be able to move until the first week of October, since my apartment lease is until Sept. 30. It will take me the rest of the summer months to figure out to sell my stuff, find a roommate/place to live in CA.
To bring God into this, I believe it is what God wants me to do. I could move to Florida, it's sunny there as well (and even more hours of daylight in the winter), however, I don't know hardly anyone in Florida, and in Southern CA, I sort of already have a backbone of support there, as far as a number of friends from college. So, if I get really lonely in California, I could just go and visit some of them.
some thoughts for today
today I was at work, and we were talking about ...how some people met their husbands. anyway, for some reason, I was reminded of this dream I had more than a year ago. I will try to explain it, but it is hard for me to remember exactly.
anyway, someone had thrown some things that had been given to me into the toilet. It was like, a kit to have a party, and it had all of these lights, and other stuff, like I remember one thing was
crayons, like what my four-year-old niece would play with.
Well, I think that the crayons mean some kind of artistic something (I finally figured it out a year later). also, I like the lights analogy. Lights seem very symbolic of inspiration, and of God.
God Values Today
This is where I'm at today...
"God has chosen a series of specific, daily tasks for each of us, and we accomplish those through our roles in our family, church, vocation, and community. He also asks us to handle the tasks-at-hand in our personal life (including our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being). Although we may not see the value in these commom requirements, God is committed to using them to accomplish his purposes. So we must learn to trust him as the sovereign Lord of our "todays." Instead of asking, "What remarkable task do I want to tackle for God?" a better question is, "What does God want me to be and do in my routine world today?"
Katie Brazelton,
Pathway to Purpose for Women
more thoughts
I have been thinking today that something strange happens to women when they go to far physically, then break up w/the guy. Because sex, and other pre-sex activities are meant to glue one person to another. It's like what Lauren Winner says in her book, "Real Sex"
"Surprisingly, one of the most powerful articulations I've heard of this came in a Tom Cruise movie, Vanilla Sky. Cruise plays a man-about-town who has finally ended a fling with a beautiful blonde he was never serious about. But the blonde can't handle the break-up; her pursuit of Cruise borders on stalking. When she finally corners him, she utters some real wisdom about sex; she is putting St. Paul in contemporary lingo: 'Don't you know that when you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise whether you do or not?' "
Well, what I'm saying is that the examples of women I know, and I can think of about four, is that they break up with the guy, and then a year and a half later, they sink into a depression. And, it's like in their depression a year and a half after this person, they are still not over him. And I think it's from being bonded unnaturally bonded???? I think it is also possibly from the guilt of "going to far" and perhaps they did not confess it to anyone.
I don't know where the guilt that the guy experiences, I don't know where that goes, because it's not like it just disappears, it must go somewhere or be acted out somehow. (side note: I know I don't understand men as well as I understand women, since I am a woman.)
my mom's a better doctor than an E.R. M.D. in Madison
my grandpa got sick last Thurs. He waited until Sat. a.m. to go the Emergency Room, he had a mild fever and a painful red swelling on his arm. He ended up having shingles, which is from the chicken pox virus, but the E.R. doctor thought is was some kind of allergy to the environment at first. Then his second guess was that it was some kind of infection, and he gave him an antibiotic and told him to follow-up with his regular doctor in 2 days. My grandpa had to wait for a long time in the E.R. , too. He said that the E.R. doc was clearly occupied with other things.
Anyway, on Sunday night he talked to my mother on the phone because he was not getting any better. My mother
who is a veterinarian told him that he has shingles and to go into the doctor first thing Monday morning. And my mom didn't even see his arm, instead she was able to
tell him over the phone. I don't understand how an E.R. doctor could have missed the obvious.
I guess the one thing that I have learned is that everyone in the E.R. is someone's grandpa or grandma (like mine) and worthy of undivided attention.
sick again
I can't believe I am sick again. I picked up a virus and started to get sick Wed. The only problem was, I couldn't just "call in sick" Thurs, instead I had to go in and set up everything for the afternoon, then call the office manager to cover for me so I could go to the doctor. I was concerned I had strep, and wanted to get a rapid strep test. Then I called in sick today, Friday, it was pointless, I am non-functional; I think I could only work at 25% level.
I'm not sure if I will even be able to work tomorrow either.
I.P.A.
I think my opinion about Illinois Public Assistance is changing now that I have worked in healthcare for more than a year, and I am thinking now, if I become a doctor, I'm not sure if I would accept Medicaid. (I know it's shocking.)
Basically, I just want to serve other hard-working Americans (if that term is not an oxymoron). I mean, people would be free to pay for it themselves, or use insurance, but not public aid.
My main problem with I.P.A. is that there is not any motivation for one to get off of it, and I don't want to be enabling people to milk the system dry.
I know I would "miss out" on serving the [what seems like] rare case of a person who really needs to be on public aid, such as the severely mentally challenged, or what have you. Clearly, that is one person who lacks the intellectual ability to support himself, and for that person, I'm glad that my tax dollars help fund his healthcare.
However, I have worked for the Chicago Public Schools, in a poor neighborhood, and I know the people there are plenty smart enough to figure out how to support themselves. Sometimes, it just seems like the system doesn't give them an opportunity?????????????
MY MAIN POINT IS: Sometimes I think it is almost an insult to give someone something they could pay for. It's like the government is saying, "Since you don't have enough brain cells to figure out how to support yourself, we are going to pay for this and that." IT'S LIKE SAYING, "Obviously, these people are not smart enough to figure out how to pay for their own healthcare."
new favorite drink
I have discovered a new favorite drink. It is the iced coffee w/coconut flavoring from Dunkin Donuts (forget Starbucks). here is a link
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/press/PressRelease.aspx?viewtype=current&id=100052
