(Don't) Keep the Change

I've been thinking a lot about charitable donations lately and how to use good judgment in deciding where to donate my dollar-and-cents. I give 10% of my income to my church, but there are lots of other opportunities in addition to that.

I used to work with a girl, Kirsten, at BYU's Writing Center who recently started a charity to help her nephew come to the U.S. to receive medical treatment unavailable to him in Italy. The family is doing everything they can to help themselves and their son, but the father lost his job because of the poor economy. The son can only receive the treatment he needs by visiting a specialist in the U.S. This single trip and doctor visit will cost $8,000 and the family is unquestionably coming, even if it means they will sink lower in debt. (http://dylanfund.blogspot.com/)

Kirsten is a BYU student who is newly-married. She doesn't have a lot of money to spare. But she set up a fundraiser during finals week and is doing everything she can to help out. I am really moved by Kirsten's efforts to help people that are within her sphere of influence. She isn't looking far outside herself to donate to every charity in the world; she just wants to help her extended family.

I'm a college student with only a part time job. I'm not exactly rolling in it, but I'm doing just fine. And so I donated a bit to Kirsten's need. I wasn't looking for a charity to donate to, but this one came along and I feel the need to support it. It was easy since they have a Paypal set up, and no amount is too small (my donation will probably only pay for meals for one day).

I'm not encouraging everyone to donate to this charity (though I definitely think you should consider it). But I think we each have a few dollars we can shave off our savings to help others directly within our sphere of influence.

A Few of My Favorite Things

This is the time of year when the weather gets colder, my skin gets dry, my throat gets sore, and my mood gets darker. To spread a little sunshine amidst these conditions, I want to share some of my favorite things of late:

L'Oreal Everstrong shampoo
I was recently recommended this shampoo by my friend Emily Belanger. If your hair is anything like mine (as dry as straw no matter how little I wash it), consider a sulfate-free shampoo like L'Oreal Everstrong (and PS. It's still cheap and goes a long way).



Marie Callender pie
If you haven't had one of these pies, get in your car and drive over to Smiths where they carry an amazing array of these award-winning Marie Callender pies. I recently started watching the now-canceled yet fantastically quirky TV show "Pushing Daisies" in which a regular pie maker has the irregular ability to revive the dead and uses the power to revive his childhood sweetheart (who is a Zooey Deschanel lookalike). Anyway, the pie maker owns The Piehole and you can't get through an episode without hearing about pie this and pie that. Hence, my sudden craving for delicious pie when I previously did NOT like pie. Marie Callender does it best. Go for the razzleberry.


Mucinex
I have had a cold every two weeks this semester and the colds seem to get worse with each catching. I heard that Dayquil is now far less powerful than it used to be (apparently too many people were using the pseudoephedrine in it to make meth, so they removed the ingredient from it). Long story short, I needed a powerful over-the-counter drug and Mucinex worked GREAT.

Tights and Boots

When it's snowy outside and I still have to look nice and professional for my job, fashionable tights and boots are a good solution. I am looking to invest in even more boots, so let me know if you hear of a good sale or can recommend a quality brand.

Dystopian Young Adult Fiction

Do you love The Hunger Games? The Giver? Pretties? Then YOU, my friend, also love dystopian YA fiction like I do. I am looking forward to reading Matched by Allie Condie (it just came out this week). She is a BYU grad and already has a Disney movie deal to produce her upcoming trilogy. I have no idea if it will be good; it might actually turn out to be another Twilight-esque series, but I'm open to being prematurely optimistic.




So there's my recommended list of favorites. I hope you will try some of them out to beat those winter blues! Sorry I can't be like Oprah and give everyone reading this post a sample of my favorite things. If I could, I would add some more expensive, substantial items to the list so we could all benefit. (By the way, did you know it is Oprah's last season? We have reached the end of an era).

Checking It (twice)

Here's how I did on my Thanksgiving break To-Do list:

-Laundry I washed my whites only
-Grade student papers. I am currently halfway done. Not bad for a long break!
-Read The Giver I love this book! Kyle let me read it on his Kindle.
-Clean the bathroom Cleaning bathrooms are a necessary evil.
-Clean bedroom My room has never felt bigger.
-C-mas shopping Not all shopping is done, but the shopping I intended to do this break.
-Finish writing my own C-mas list I usually resent doing this, but it beats grading papers.
-Make a websitegr http://www.wix.com/prebecca/writing150
-Make student punctuation assignment My students really need to review this before the final
-Make my own assignment schedule for rest of the semestert I have three big papers to work on and some smaller projects
-Haircut (next weekend maybe?)
-Facial with Emily (next weekend maybe?)
-Find out about Gold's Gym Gold's is having a special right now: $25/mo, no contract, no fees!

I love getting things done and checking them off my list. I cross something off my little white notepad and that horizontal strike-through line I draw is a symbol of accomplishment! Now I know why Santa spends his time checking it twice.

Enjoying Thanksgiving Break

It's Thanksgiving break! I am so excited to have some time off from the daily grind. I made a To Do list yesterday to be completed in the next 5 days:

-Laundry
-Grade student papers
-Read The Giver
-Clean the bathroom
-Clean bedroom
-C-mas shopping
-Finish writing my own C-mas list
-Make a website
-Make student punctuation assignment
-Make my own assignment schedule for rest of the semester
-Haircut
-Facial with Emily
-Find out about Gold's Gym

Okay, not all of these are fun things (some are), but I am one of those people that gets down when I am unproductive, even over a long weekend. I have had about 24 hours of break and all I have done is clean my room and bathroom and watch movies!!!

It's kind of a bummer when I have free time and Kyle still has to work. I tend to text him a lot on days like today:

9:00 AM
Me: Good morning! How is work going? Did you finish that thing you needed to do for Neil?
K: Morning! Yep, all is well here. How are you? Did you sleep well?
Me: I did! I was only scared for about three minutes when I thought about Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping.
K: But then you remembered that you don't have windows in your room?
Me: No. Then I pushed it out of my mind and sleep overcame me.
K: Oh good! :)

10:22 AM
Me: Hey, doesn't every American family lose pieces to games? My dad is trying to say we are reckless and wasteful. But I think that's normal.
K: Well, American families with young kids and grandkids. If pieces are lost with games that only adults play, it might be a little... Carefree :)
Me: My dad is upset that Boggle is missing one piece after having the game for thirty years. That's seven kids and at least four moves.
K: (No response)

10:49 AM
Me: What do you want to do tonight?
K:( No response)

12:17 PM
Me: I kind of wish I had blonde hair...
K: (No response)

12:23 PM
Me: Also, let's go to Asia! I want to get out of here and travel!
K: (No response)

12:26 PM
Me: I just added Eat Love Pray to the Netflix queue.
K: (No response)

12:27 PM
Me: Don't you just love the days I have off so I can text you all day?!
K: (No response)

1:03 PM
K: Just got back to my phone. I'm glad you don't have blonde hair. I want to travel too. And I DO love the days you have off so you can text me like crazy.

...And the day is only half over! What a good sport.

Well, I am off to cross out another thing from my list! Have a very happy Thanksgiving! It is my birthday tomorrow and I will be eating lots of turkey and pie at my cousins' house in Sandy. Lovely holiday season!

Where Scholar Meets Shopper

A few things about myself:

I am not naturally a "shopper." I hate shopping in groups. I like to go by myself or with my significant other. I am not big on spending money at all, and I usually buy the cheapest thing at a restaurant when I go out to eat. I have a hard time motivating myself to exercise if I am not committed to a team or an exercise class. I dislike watching movies by myself and usually can't justify the luxury during the week.

HOWEVER...

Ever since I started graduate school, all I want to do is

shop,
eat out,
exercise,
and watch movies on Netflix.

Just when I should be cultivating deeper thoughts and rigorous intellectual pursuits, I seem to be getting shallower. Okay, it's not inherently shallow to do these things. It's just weird that all of a sudden, I feel a gravitational pull toward them. What's funny is that I have talked to a few of the other girls in my program and they have said similar things. What kind of subliminal messages are women being taught in this program? Just kidding. It must be that we are working so hard/ are stressed by expectations that we feel the need to simultaneously pamper ourselves. No idea. It just feels out of character for me.

Diverting

So you know that thing in the tub faucet that you pull in order for the water to come out the showerhead? It's called a faucet diverter (I had to look that up). Whenever I turn off the showerhead after I shower, the water continues to trickle out the tub faucet. It trickles until the diverter randomly falls down and the remaining water in the pipes pours down from the faucet in one big flood.

Here's the thing: For years, this sudden sploosh of water has reminded me of a pregnant woman's water breaking. I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to shake that connotation. Every time I shower, that little diverter falls and I am suddenly thinking of pajama-ed, soon-to-be fathers breaking traffic laws as they speed to hospitals with their overdue wives in passenger seats having contractions and praying to God while assuring themselves it's going to be fine!

I told a coworker at the Writing Center a couple years ago that the reason I don't emphasize in creative writing is because of situations like these where I start noticing too much, feeling the weight of day-to-day observation and trying to convert them into interesting metaphors. They stick with me. I think that when creative writing is on the brain, it makes me perceive the world in more creative ways. That's not a bad thing at all; that's one of the great blessings of being creative--the ability to see the world in different ways. It just makes me feel like I am living so much in my head that sometimes I can't surface, like the faucet diverter has fallen and drowned out all other things.

The More Loving One

I discovered the following poem a year ago in my British Modernism class. I was so moved that I bought a book of poetry by the poet. The title popped into my head this afternoon, so I pulled it out again. Re-reading it brings back good memories. I know it might not apply to all situations, but I think Auden is generally right.

Enjoy.


The More Loving One
by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.