A Good Thing?

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. I slept about four hours straight, which is long enough in a pinch, before I woke up.

Is this a good sign?

After all, I've had so much trouble for so long with my oversleeping and extreme tiredness. I can't remember the last time I woke up and felt adequately rested. Usually, even if I have to get up and pee at night, I still have no trouble going right back to sleep. But not this morning.

Maybe this will be an isolated incident. Maybe not. Maybe I'm on the road to recovery!

We'll see.

Headache and Lost and stuff

I tried to lay down a little while ago to get a couple hours of sleep. But I have a headache and couldn't sleep. I got up and took an aspirin and put some Head On on my forehead. That usually works. (Yes, Head On works, imho.) I have to go to work in a few hours.

The season five premier of Lost aired last night. I'm elated to have the show back. Rumors were that several questions would be answered during the premier, but I don't think they were. Maybe, if you don't read stuff about Lost like I do, you might have had some questions answered. I'm going to watch the episode(s) again at the ABC website, so maybe I'll find something I missed the first time.

I definitely got more questions! If you watch Lost and haven't seen the premiere yet, then you might want to quit reading right now.

********LOST SPOILER ALERT*********
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Why does John Locke have to die to leave the island? People have come and gone from the island without having to die. I think. Maybe the submarine was the only way to do that, and now that it's gone, .... But wait. Didn't Mr. Friendly leave the island after the sub got blown up?

Why can't someone go to the orchid station and move the donkey wheel back?!

What role will Faraday's Mother play?

Will Desmond (have to) return to the island? I'm guessing that Penny will be killed by Ben, freeing Desmond to return.

I have more questions, but the headache's interfering.

I'm a Great Aunt, again!

My niece, Jennifer, had a baby boy, Matthew, on Monday, January 19. He came a little early. I think it's because he didn't want to miss the inauguration! Or the season 5 premier of "Lost." Mom and son are doing well. So is dad!

Grandparents are ecstatic!

Reading the Bible

I've been looking for an easy way to read the Bible. You might think there's no "easy" way to read the Bible. If you've ever read the Bible, God bless you! Most of us think of it as a tedious thing that we really should do, but thinking about what lies ahead makes it hard to take that first step. And if we do take the first step, we often give up. Not intentionally, of course. Things just happen and one day we decide to skip our reading that day. Then we skip a couple of days. Eventually we think that we've gone too long without reading and we just give up.

Good news.

I have found an easy way to read the Bible. I frequently use my computer and the Internet to look up religious matters. One day I stumbled upon the United Church of God. I like these people. I like them a LOT. And on their website they provide an opportunity to read the Bible in a year. What is great about this opportunity on their website is that they actually provide the text as well as an audio version that you can play as you read along.

I like my computer. I like the fun and interesting things it allows me to do. To be able to use it to read the Bible is, for me, an indescribable joy. I've wanted to read the Bible for several years. I've been looking for the easy way for several years. I think I've now found the easiest way to read the Bible in a year.

Check it out. If you want to start now, even though we're over two weeks into the year, go ahead and start. I recommend that you read two days worth until you're caught up. Here is the link that will take you to the daily Bible reading.

You can also watch video of the Sabbath Sermon each week at the UCG website, or just listen to the audio version. You'll find that here, if you're interested. I am. Especially since I find it so difficult to actually make it to church. You can also download an mp3 version for your mp3 player.

About "Organized" Religion

I've heard a lot of people say they don't go to church because they don't agree with "organized" religion. They see so many conflicts. One church does this, but another doesn't. One church believes this, but another doesn't. I understand. I used the same excuse a few times. Then I started getting serious about God. I don't believe one can use this excuse if one is serious about God.

Here's what I believe: God wants us to worship with other Christians. He wants us to have fellowship with other Christians. God also wants us to "Remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy." As Christians, we need to go to church. Personally, I haven't found a church yet that teaches what I believe. I do believe most of what they teach, but not all of it. This is one reason I'm reading the Bible - to figure out for myself (if I can, and if God will guide me) what the Bible actually teaches. Until I find THE church - if it exists - that teaches what the Bible teaches (what I believe the Bible teaches), then I will worship at a church that comes as close as possible. I believe that going to church is better than staying home due to the varying doctrines taught by various denominations of Christians.

Get serious. Read the Bible. Learn. Find out for yourself. Be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge and teaching that you can, then put it all together for yourself. Seek differing opinions. Ask questions. If there's something you don't get, ask a few "pastors" or "preachers" or "priests" to explain to you.

My Questions

I have a lot of questions for the religious denominations. No doubt some, or most, of my questions would piss a lot of people off. Here are some of them:

•Why do you believe in the trinity, when there is no mention of it in the Bible, and when there is scripture to dispute it?

•Why do you carve and worship idols when there is a commandment telling us not to do so?

•Why do you observe pagan rituals in observance of our most Holy events?

Enough for now. Is your blood boiling? Sorry. Feel free to contact me if you wish to have a calm, informed, educated discussion of the issue. If you just want to call me names, don't bother.

Deja Vu

Just finished watching the movie. It was much better - and much different - than I thought it would be. It's the one where the Ferry blows up and Denzel Washington is on the case. Thinking back, I don't think the advertising that was done when the movie first came out did it justice.

I know the e and a in Deja are supposed to have little marks over them, but I'm not going to try to make it right. Even if it looks okay on my computer, it will probably me messed up on someone else's computer. So just pretend they're there.

Now I'm going to go make a cup of coffee because I have to start getting ready for work in about an hour.

A New Term

A new term to describe myself. Or maybe not. I've never heard it before, but someone, somewhere must have used it at some time. "Housework-challenged." I am definitely housework-challenged.

Or maybe "domestically-challenged," but that seems to encompass more than just housework.

Oh, and I forgot...

I watched Wall-E, too. I liked it. I have not been entertained by most of the recent (meaning for about 10 years or so) animated movies, for some reason. But I liked Wall-E. (Have yet to see the Simpsons Movie.)

"Stay"

I watched this movie last night and I have no idea what the hell it was about. Well, maybe a little idea. But it was hard to follow and I'm not sure you ever find out what was actually happening.

"Burn After Reading"

Slightly newer than the X-Files movie.

I think what I wanted to see most was Brad Pitt acting like an idiot. That pleased me. And the "final" scene that he was in was good, too! (What a horrible person I am, I guess, to think that.) I think this movie could be summed up by saying it's eventual purpose is to show you how stupid a government agency can be, since that's how the whole story seems to wind up. Although I think every important character in it was depicted as an idiot, too. Maybe I missed something.

Can you tell I'm not a fan of Brad Pitt? Not a fan of Tom Cruise, either, although I did enjoy the dancing scene in "Risky Business." But that was a long time ago.

The X-Files Movie

Not very good. "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" was "phoned in." I ordered it (Netflix) and watched it because I'm an X-Files fan. This was not typical X-Files stuff. One expects aliens or paranormal activity or whatever. All this movie had was a psychic ex-priest pedophile and a Frankenstein-like doctor. I suspect someone thought, "It's time for another X-Files movie. We/I could make some more money on the franchise." But their heart wasn't really in it. So they came up with an idea real fast and filmed it and maybe made some money, but it wasn't very good. It definitely was not up to normal X-Files standards.

Most people go out and see new movies and review them, I know. But I don't go out to see new movies. I wait for the DVD. (In case you're wondering why I review old movies.)

Something I forgot

I could have written, in my non-existent holiday letter, about the creation of the Umbrella Hat Society. Can't believe I forgot about that.

Say What?!!

I had to call a company yesterday to find out why something that was ordered long ago is so late. As always, I got their phone recording. It went something like this: "Thank you for calling [company name]. We are either experiencing a high volume of calls or you have called us after our normal business hours. Please stay on the line and your call will be answered by the next available representative."

WHAT?!!

So if you just turned off the lights and left the office for the day, you want me to hold until tomorrow morning when you come back?

Fortunately it was the high volume of calls that kept me on hold for only a short time.

Someone - preferably with a brain - needs to change that message.

Holiday Letter

I thought about sending out one of those holiday letters that wraps up what happened during the year. But mine would be very short and horribly boring. "I got out of bed, in spite of suffering from what I'm calling chronic fatigue, and went to work - a job I only marginally like. This happened often throughout the year. Occasionally I called in sick. In July my youngest brother died unexpectedly and I went home for the memorial service." That's about it. I don't have kids or grandkids to write about. And the dogs and cats really don't provide much activity for any sort of letter. So I didn't write a holiday letter again this year. In October I "celebrated" my first full year at Walgreens. They gave me a little pin with no ceremony whatsoever. That's about it. That was my year and now everyone reading my blog is up to date.

Happy New Year

I want to wish everyone a great new year. I hope you're healthier, happier, and more prosperous than in 2008.