Facie’s Ramblings

A handful of years ago, my attention span was greater. I looked forward to blogging regularly as well as reading blog posts of various people. But then at some point, FB took over that space in my brain, and because I had so many posts to keep up with, blogging and reading others' blogs took a back seat. I eventually started to tweet, but I mostly reserve that for commenting on or about sporting events, which I don't do with any sort of regularity. Mostly because Twitter is so in the moment; I can never keep up. But my lack of blogging means my writing skills have languished. When you type only a few sentences at a time, you can't expect greatness. And when you realize you don't have much to say beyond 6-10 sentences, but when you know that whatever can be said will take you double or triple the words necessary, well, that, folks is why I hardly blog. That and that my life is pretty boring. (Unless semi-regular Phipps flower and my dog and cat posts on Instagram excit...

Can I just say that I miss the days/weeks when I had a lot to say in this very space? Even though I have not been able to describe my life as exciting, I could always find something to write (or complain) about. Although today's topic is not exactly thrilling, it can be considered controversial, so there is that. :-) Welcome to religion/belief in a higher power and how people fit into categories, which I envisioned in my head while trying to fall back asleep this morning. Here is my view, numbered only because it made it easier (yet I do picture this on some type of number line). Note that some people can fall into more than one category, and I did not include devil worshipers, wiccans, or things which I know nothing about. The believers 1. The dangerous religious nut These people talk about God (Allah, or whatever he/it is called) and are convinced that that deity has told them it is perfectly acceptable (and are even encouraged) to kill others if they deserve it, the ...

For some people, 2012 was really awful. For others, 2012 brought many blessings. For me, 2012 was pretty good and mostly uneventful; there is not any one particular things that stands out for me. I had a short-term job for almost three months. But, much like my last steady/regular job, it seems like almost a lifetime ago. I also did some freelance work for the company where I used to work, and at times, I kind of felt as if I still worked there. And of course there was subbing. I won't even venture a guess as to what 2013 has in store for me job-wise. I am, however, pretty worried about my impending 2012 tax bill. Our run of getting a nice chunk of change back and putting it toward home improvement is over, at least for this year. I just hope we (I) don't owe too much money... I ran, swam, and did Zumba, but did not set the world on fire in any of those areas. Of course, I ran in the Race for Pace 5k and earned a third place medal ( albeit several weeks after the fact ), so...

As the Christmas season is fully upon us (no denying it now that Turkey Day is out of the way), I am faced with dilemma of not only what to buy for others but also what to tell people to buy for me. A big part of me wishes we could completely take presents out of the equation and focus on what the season is really about (or what it should be, for us Christians). But that won't happen. And besides, I do obtain some joy in buying for others, though that good feeling mostly lies in my shopping for the giving tree at church, where I can feel reasonably secure that whoever is getting my gift wants and needs what I have bought. But most of the rest of us? Do we really need anything? I have lamented about my being under-employed for years and how we sometimes struggle. But I know that compared to so many others, my family and I have it good. We have a roof over our heads, cars that run, closets and drawers full of clothes, food in our kitchen, a new oven to cook that food in, an HD TV (...

It's funny (and not funny, ha ha) how when you have a baby, you think that it cannot possibly get any harder than this, with the lack of sleeping and the constant worry about almost everything. But as your kids grow up, you realize just how easy you had it back in the day. This morning, I read an article about a mother who choked the boy who was bullying her daughter. Before I even read past the headline, I found myself almost siding with the mom. I would never do anything like that; after all, I am the one, unlike hubby, who tells my kid to turn the other cheek. But I can see how as a parent you could become so frustrated, worried, angry, etc., that you could be pushed to that point. As both a parent and educator (albeit not too regularly for the latter), bullying concerns me. It is sometimes difficult to determine when it is just teasing/being mean and when it has gone beyond that. Of course it would be great if everyone just got along all the time and no one was ever mean t...

For the fun of it, I looked at the labels I have used for various posts. Money was number 2, well ahead of most others, other than football, which was a close second. {Kids was the runaway label winner, more than double that of money. I am speculating, however, that the kids posts are as much if not more about kids in general, thanks to my teaching, as they are about my kid.} Money. I have so much to say about the subject, but as with many things in my life, it confounds me. I read mostly useless financial advice from various sources. I can't imagine too many people don't realize that they could save money by not going to Starbucks every day or by forgoing the water in plastic bottles. And, duh, who does not know that it is more expensive to go out to eat or go see a movie versus cooking at home or renting a movie?! Yes, I am aware that I should be contributing money to a 401k, something I did as soon as I was able to at my first job and continued to up until my last mont...

Well, I waited a day to pen my latest rant, so without further delay, here it is: Some people kind of suck. Let me start off by saying that I am not perfect; I have many faults, most of which are readily apparent to those who know me. But I really make an effort to treat those around me--family, friends, and strangers--just as I want to be treated. With kindness and compassion. I try to give a little. And I truly believe if people treated one another better, if they focused more on others and less on themselves, we could solve a lot of the world's ills. But lately it seems as if every time I open up the paper, read a magazine, or go online, I am bombarded by the transgressions of some celebrity (music, TV, movie, sports or otherwise) or politician. I sometimes wonder if it is not so much that people have gone downhill, but more that thanks to technology, we just get to find out about every bad deed five minutes after it happened. Or have we as a society become so self-centered,...

Do you ever ponder what you would do if you won the Powerball or some other lottery? I know some of you dear readers would never buy a ticket, because of the whole throwing money away thing. I, on the other hand, buy a Powerball ticket a few times a year, because you just never know. Remember, I am surprised every year I don't win my church's big raffle. (I bet this will be the year.) I have actually put a lot of thought into what I would do with this found money, if I ever win. If only I put this much energy into expanding my skills or making the world a better place. Anyway, I thought I would list how I might spend that money, as it stands today. Of course the amount of money I win would affect where it goes, but I am assuming I would come away with 500k. Pay off my house and car. I have a 0 percent interest car loan (which, sorry, Dave Ramsey, I bought new), but if I had some extra big Gs around, I would be happy to end those payments. Open up an IRA. Unfortunately, ...

Just because Thanksgiving is over does not mean we should stop counting our blessings and being grateful for what we have. But just as important, in my opinion, are having some compassion and doing the right things. When I picked Jordan up from school on Monday, she asked me if I saw the Christmas tree at church. I told her it was actually the Giving Tree, and that even though I did not have a job and money was tight, we could still pay our bills and were blessed. Therefore, we would be giving someone less fortunate a gift. I explained to Jordan that I chose a tag for an elderly woman who probably had no family. I went on to say that some people have little or no money and they probably wouldn't be getting any presents. Jordan then said she could give someone one of her toys. That thought made me smile (and brought a tear to my eye). After I picked out a tag from the Giving Tree last week, someone in my choir commented that people should not be studying the tags; they should just p...

Yesterday Jordan went to a "princess party" at the photo studio my cousins' own. Under normal circumstances I probably would have never wanted to attend one of these things, thinking it was just another example of how materialistic society has become and how spoiled children are. But Jordan, like most girls around her age, loves to dress up and is enamored by princesses, plus these ladies are my cousins and I was in town, so we went. I have to say it was kind of neat and probably felt magical to the girls, though some were too young to be there (watching one of the moms try to put makeup on her crying two-year old particularly annoyed me). But Jordan had so much fun, and she was an angel pretty much the entire time. She stood still the entire time she was putting her dress on and having her hair and makeup done; and while waiting for the other girls, she sat quietly at the table for something like 10 minutes. She seemed to like the visit by the princess (a pretty high sch...

Thought I would throw out a few (and by a few, I am sure I will end up with well over a dozen) thoughts running around that brain of mine. I have a lot of meaningful people in my life from family, friends, relatives, and casual acquaintances. If you are reading this blog, you are probably one of those people (unless you just happened by), and I thank you for occupying some part of my heart and mind. I think the world is too materialistic. If you have been to my house, you know we are not into nice, expensive things. I just don't care about that stuff. True, I am still debating about that flat-screen TV (leaning more towards no), but mostly what I have is just fine. I think this may be the year I am going to have to retire my almost 15-year old skirt. And I have been wearing the same PSU winter coat for years. Unless I get a job where fashion matters (and clearly it does not at my office), I see no reason to spend a lot of money on clothes or keep up with the latest styles. I think ...