Something struck me this morning as I was reading the paper. There was an opinion column directed towards retailers, with the sole intent of letting them know the "Top 5 Pet Peeves" shoppers have with retailers during the holiday shopping season. The article bugged me, because I have a very different view on shopping and retail.

Just follow me on this...

If you are going into a store, whether it's a grocery to get weekly food items, The Gap to purchase a present for someone, Target to get toiletries, Carrabba's to get dinner, or Walgreen's to pick up a prescription, you are purchasing SOMETHING FOR YOU! Yes, that's right...it's food YOU need or want to eat, a gift that YOU want to give someone, or medicine that YOU want to make you feel better. I know that sometimes stores are crowded, I know that sometimes sales people aren't in the best of moods, I know sometimes the price is different than was advertised and that stock sometimes runs out, but come on- WE are the ones walking out of the store with something that we wanted in the first place!

I just really hate the entitlement of American shoppers: the attitude that it is the retailer's or store's job to make it the most pleasant shopping experience possible because we are spending our precious hard-earned money. The truth is, we are getting things to satisfy our desires, wants and needs. No one is forcing you to spend your money. I'm not saying that's a bad thing- we all have needs and wants for things. I am simply saying that we really need to check our hearts as we go about the remainder of this holiday season. Sure the grocery store may be packed, but does it REALLY take that long or mess up your day that much to wait 10 minutes in line. Sure the item you wanted may be no longer on sale or not in stock, and you might have to change your plans for dinner or a gift you were going to give, but again, is it really that big of a deal? Sure the salesperson might be chomping on their gum right in front of you, or they may be flat out rude to you, but again, does it REALLY mess up your day THAT much to have 1 little rude thing said to you...really?!

I just challenge you, as you shopper to have a completely renewed mindset as you shop this year, and go about your daily routines. Please do not go into a store with the attitude that you deserve to be served, and they should act a certain way for you. Please go in with the attitude that YOU want to serve them. Really that's what we're doing anyway. If we don't purchase their products, they don't stay in business. But again, we are the ones walking out with something in our hands. So if you struggle with this, allow the Lord to help you this Christmas season. Don't lose sight in the little things and keep looking for how YOU can be a blessing- everywhere you go!

I am going to make an effort to blog a little bit more, and I figured that taking a quick break in the middle of writing my second paper of the weekend is as good a time as any. This weekend has been my "Final Paper Writing Weekend." I began Friday night, doing some research and pre-writing. Saturday I worked on it all day, taking a break to get my hair cut and see our New Song Kid's Christmas Production. (Which was wonderful!) Finished Paper #1 last night. It was another paper on "A Good Man is Hard to Find;" A precis to be exact. I chose to make my topic the correlation of the Misfit to the Apostle Paul. I personally think it's a really good idea; we'll see what my professor thinks!

Today we had church, and then went to a friend's house to watch the Colts beat up on the poor Titans for the second time this season. Yes, my dear Titans' fans and friends, you knew, deep down that it was coming, despite your best wishes and hopes that it wouldn't be this way: it was! I figured I wouldn't get any work done with the game on anyway, so why not watch it fully. (Hey, at least I clipped coupons and made my grocery list while watching)

After the game, I came home, put some potatoes on the stove for potato soup (have to have dinner tonight!) and got to work. This second paper is on John Keats' poem, "The Eve of St Agnes." It's an interesting poem, and I am certainly not thrilled about writing on it, but out of the options I had, it really was the best choice. Right now I am researching Medievalism and getting ready to say a bunch of things about how Keats handles issues of human motive, why colors are important, and explore the sensory imagery. Blah! I love literature, and I love grammar and I love writing, really I do. But I don't love writing papers on things that I think are without purpose and frankly, a bit silly.

So there you have it: my view on this paper I am writing. :-) Okay, enough rant for now, must get back to that sensory imagery!!! Yay...........

Oh, and in other news, my little man, Ethan Kellums, started CRAWLING TODAY!!! YAY for Ethan! So cute!

Hello, world! Are you still with me? I'm here, I'm here, I promise! :-) "I'm not dead yet." (cue British accent in Monty Python movie) Sorry, I'm kind of out of it here. It's 7:00 on Friday night and I am deep in the throes of a precis on "A Good Man is Hard to Find," my third paper of the semester on this particular short story. But I love it, which is why I chose it for my 3rd and 4th papers in this class. On the agenda for tomorrow is a paper on John Keats' "The Eve of St. Agnes." Ahhh.....I love literature! But my purpose in composing this post is not to bore you with details of my end of semester finals and papers, but to announce that I am now a FULL TIME ENGLISH TEACHER!

After some time of deliberating before the Lord and praying and dialoguing with my husband, we made the determination to accept the job offered me by Page Middle School as a 7th grade English teacher for the 2nd semester, which goes from January through May. Most of you know, if not directly, at least from reading this blog, that I have been working Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the school already, but a couple of weeks ago, we found out that the permanent teacher would be unable to return for the duration of the year, and I was subsequently offered the job. I apologize if you are finding out about this directly from my blog, but I know most of you knew that this was an option and that I was considering it. Anyway, it is just a ridiculously crazy thing that the Lord has opened up and orchestrated and I'm super excited and scared to death all at the same time!

Anyway, I'm sure I will have more to post in the future, but I wanted to let everyone know what was going on. AND....in more AMAZING news, I will probably get to start my IVF meds again within the next week. YAYAYAYA! I am super pumped for that!