Advent: Monday, First Week

November 28, 2011

Today's Advent act is as follows:

Today use the time going from one place to another to wander as Mary wandered.  Think of gifts you will give and receive.  Often each gift has parts and packaging.  From beginning to end, from raw materials to assembly, think of the hands, from all the nations, that made your gifts.  Pray for the makers of the gifts you intend to give and those you will receive.

My path today was: home to work to Dress Barn to home.  That's it.  So, maybe I can ponder those trips from place to place.  This morning, a gift I received from my husband is just having him in my life!  :)  He was here today when I woke up, so that is always a special blessing.  Likewise, he receives the same from me.  Heading to work, I listen to the Catholic channel.  This is a great gift for me because it wakes my brain up with interesting perspectives and food for thought.  I don't think I give any gifts on my way to work, but maybe I could try to at least smile at a fruit stand vendor once in a while.

Once I'm at work, I suppose the gift I give is my contribution to my company.  I try to be responsible, patience, and respectful, and I hope that I lead by example.  Likewise, several people in my company inspire me daily with new ways of thinking and coach me with ways I can develop my skills and potential even more.  It is a great gift to be part of such a team!  After work, I headed to Dress Barn to get a dress for my brother's wedding this weekend.  I ended up with four dresses (...and a coverup, some earrings, and a purse).  I'm thankful for the wonderful lady named Maria who worked there.  She was extremely accommodating and polite, and she called me by my name throughout my shopping experience there.  That's something I could add to my list of gifts for others!  I'm thankful as well for the relatively inexpensive yet quality selection at Dress Barn.  :)  I appreciate the people who made the fabric and dresses.  So, I'll pray for those people today as well as Maria (and the other lady too, who rang me up and was not particularly as courteous...)

I made my way home for usual evening -- but Mondays at the Pitre household can only mean one thing: BILL NIGHT!!  Oh yeah.  So, I'm thankful for the people at HelloWallet.com who have created a fantastic cloud application for home finance management.  I'm sad Quicken doesn't keep up with Macs, but maybe the change to HelloWallet is good for me.  My gift to them, I suppose, is my support and my monthly subscription fee.  This Monday night is special too because the Saints game is on in the background.  Thank you Saints for playing an awesome game tonight!  We are 10 minutes away from winning!  Oh, and a lovely gift I received from my husband tonight as well was the dinner he made... or plated... for me.  :)  Granted, he took the leftovers from the container and warmed them up on a plate, but it was really sweet of him since that's normally my job.  I was almost overly excited about it!   It probably made my day.  :)

Obviously, I'm avoiding any thought process about Christmas gifts because I'm starting to feel the shopping paralysis.  I like the way this reflection forces me, though, to think about it.  Why we give and receive gifts at Christmas.  This year, I really want to put some good thought into my gifts so that people who are anticipating them are pleasantly surprised.  I want to support civilly responsible individuals and organizations, and I want to be generous with my gifts to people who love, support, and serve me throughout the year.  As I'm purchasing my gifts this year, I will try to remember and pray for those who created the gifts I will give to others and receive from others.

Recap: Think of gifts you will give and receive, and pray for the makers of those gifts.
1. Smile at people.
2. Try to remember people's names and call them by it.
3. Be generous with prayers and giving to those who love, support, serve, and give to you.
BONUS: Be even MORE generous to those who aren't so supportive.

Advent: Sunday, First Week

November 27, 2011

Today's Advent act is to "foster the desire to seek and find Jesus." During Advent, we should be anticipating Jesus' arrival with a joyful, almost childlike, eagerness. Advent is one of my favorite seasons of the year, and I think it's because I enjoy that anticipation of Jesus' birthday. I look forward to the symbolic traditions of the season: special prayers and readings, the Advent wreath and candles that are lit one by one, even the change in the weather (though not TOO much change!)

What can I do to seek and find Jesus, especially during Advent? How do I make myself want to? I think that purposefully taking the time out of the day to read, reflect, pray, and even talk to someone about their reflections really helps to bring Jesus to the forefront of my life. However, it's easier said than done - and for me, living in Manhattan doesn't make it any easier. First, I have to make the time.  Though, I find that once I do quiet myself and get into the zone, I'm really happy that I did.  It ends up being a necessity of my day, not a luxurious self indulgence.  For example, just sitting and writing this blog entry gets me thinking about how I need seek and find Jesus.  So first, I've decided... I need to make the time.  I need to allow myself some quiet moments in the day to reflect. 

Next, I need to also remember that Jesus is not only found in the quiet moments of my day, but the noisy and busy ones as well.  This is when it's the hardest for me to remember to keep him front of mind.  So, what do I do when I'm stressed out walking down the sickeningly loud Manhattan streets, assisting one of my employees with a client issue, or rushing to JFK on Friday afternoon for a happy-go-lucky flight home to New Orleans?  I think this is where my (well-developed) patience kicks in.  This is where I try really hard not to turn around and grimace at a person who won't stay to the right on the sidewalk and runs me out the way.  Or, at the office when I've got 10 things on my plate and once with emails rolling in, and I smile and breathe through it and give my employee the guidance she needs and deserves.  Maybe that's something I've gotten down pat so far.  Maybe I am seeking and finding Jesus in my difficult moments when my patience is tested.  I have fostered this desire through much practice, I believe, and maybe I've realized that it actually works.  So, I suppose I rely on Jesus a lot in my times of stress.  Well, that solves that issues.  Now, we're left with the fun times of my day!

When I make it to JFK and hit the bar, my mind is so far away from Jesus.  Life is good!  I'm not particularly sad or hurting or in need.  This is where I need to exercise my desire to seek and find him in the joyful moments of my life.  I need to remember that not only does he console the hurting, but he also enables us to share in joy, peace, and happiness!  I think that next time I am feeling particularly happy, I'm going to make a specific point to remember Jesus and to find his blessing in  those good moments.  If I am healed in my quiet moments and in my bad moments, imagine the surplus of healing and happiness I would feel in my good moments!  :)

Recap - Foster the desire to seek and find Jesus.
1. Make quiet time for reflection.
2. Embrace patience and ask Jesus for help in difficult moments.
3. Embrace joyfulness and thank Jesus for his blessings.

Happy New Year!

I have had a great vacation celebrating Christmas, New Year's, and my birthday!  It was busy, but also relaxing.  TJ and I visited New Orleans for a week and saw so many friends and family members.  We enjoyed lunch at Mat & Naddie's and dinner at my parents' houses and our friends' apartment.  After Christmas, TJ and I came back to New York to spend a couple days of our vacation catching up on some errands.  Well, he mainly nursed his broken ankle.  (Poor thing!  :(  )  I can't say I'm looking forward to work, but I am anxious to get back to my routine.  I have a few resolutions that I'm going to mull over tonight, then post a little later on.

One thing's for certain:  I'm on Nutrisystem again.  I lost over 15 lbs on it last year at this time, with minimal exercise (I do walk 20 minutes to and from work every day).  Last year, my husband, family, and I were way more psyched about it though.  This time around, it seems like a drag.   I'm annoyed that I'll have to cut out my wine and martinis, and I'm a little paranoid that I'll slip in a cookie or piece of cheese every now and then.  I know if I go into this meal plan with that kind of mentality, it will do me no good.  So, as the ol' saying goes:  take one day at a time.


Today, we celebrate the Epiphany, in which Jesus comes to shine a light in the darkness, beginning with the example of the three magi who came to visit Him.  I was feeling some anxiety today (maybe because it's Sunday evening?), and I'm looking forward to having some of Jesus' light in my life tomorrow when I'm out and about in the world.  I'm a much happier person when I'm doing something productive.  :)

I'm not so concerned with working tomorrow as I am facing this ridiculously cold weather.  It's fun at first, but then it just sucks!  The worst part is knowing that you have to look forward to it for the next few months to come.  The weather lady said this was the coldest day in New York so far this winter.  Yikes!  I've got my outfit all ready to go (including all the cold winter gear) as well as my and TJ's meals for the day.  It always takes me so much longer to get ready when I have so much winter gear, so if I don't prepare the night before, I'll be a mess the next morning!

I'm looking forward to (hopefully!) getting in a few pages of Madame Bovary tonight... if I don't pass out from sleepiness first!  Seriously, I've had to renew this book 3 times, which means I think I checked it out in early November.  It takes me forever to get through a book because I always save it till the last minute when I can't stay awake anymore.

The last big thing on my mind is my sister Maddie's baby shower!  Our other sister Mallory and I are throwing it for her in Louisiana in a few weeks.  I hope we can pull off everything smoothly from long distance.  I have some great ladies in my family helping out down south- and they have tons of party-throwing experience.  I'm so glad they're able to assist me and Mal with some of the decorating!

Always so much going on, but I wouldn't have it any other way!  Looking forward to a fun and busy week ahead!

Funky New York Style!

So, here we are.  TJ & I made the move to New York City.  We are enjoying our small apartment, but we're having a time trying to organize our things.  It's coming along fine, though, with some creative freestanding Elfa shelving from The Container Store.  The Container Store can make all your organizing dreams come true!  Seriously, though, we like our building superintendent, and most of our neighbors are quite friendly.  We're right around the corner from my family and from Clancy's (our block's Irish pub).  We couldn't have asked for a better location.  I'm not a fan of these window unit AC's, though -- I'm scared of next month's electric bill.  They don't kick off when it reaches a certain temperature, so you have to turn it on and off.  But, we have this bad habit of leaving it on constantly....  so, I think we're going to be feeling the repercussions of that soon!!

My cats sleep all day... Billy's in the window and Jaynie's on the living room rug.  I think they like it here.  I've had to switch them to canned food because my vet said Bill's getting fat.  They like their new diet, but it's quite a hassle (and it's messy!).  But, I'll do anything for my cats.  The poor things had allergies when they got here because of the New York dust.  Thankfully, the allergy attack seems to have passed, and they are looking quite healthy!

TJ has been working diligently in his new Martha Stewart gig.  He likes it there, but the commute is tough.  I felt so bad having to send him out today in the humidity and rain!  But, alas, he is the breadwinner right now as I sit here and blog and try to come up with more creative ways to snag a part-time job.  Just one of the countless reasons why I love him!

In news about me, I am continuing my nursing career path.  This is the one thing I've stuck to for a year now, and I feel amazingly confident that this is what I want.  I started my schooling at Delgado this past spring, and am continuing here in New York at the CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College.  I'm attempting a full-time course load, if scheduling allows it.  The problem is that I need to work.  I thought it would be so easy to get a job here!  I have had minimal response on my resume blasts & follow-ups (which were thoroughly reconstructed for each send-out with a tailored cover letter), I've filled out applications at various stores, and I've talked to people about it.  The hard part is not being familiar with the area.  I literally just don't know where to go next.  One company that I had my eye on told me they weren't hiring because of the "economic crisis" -- in fact, they were actually planning to downsize.  Another thing is that some people don't want to hire me because I'm "overqualified", but the thing is that I'm not pursing a full-time career for which I'm "just-right qualified."  Right now, I just need something to do so I can keep my sanity and receive some form of income until I graduate and go from there.  Am I looking at this the wrong way?  I try to step out of the box and seek a creative alternative, but I'm at a loss.

So, there you have it!  :)

New York

It has been confirmed:

TJ and I (along with our two cats) are moving to Manhattan, NY in June.

TJ will be working jointly with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Emeril's Homebase.

I will be going to nursing school for my RN while working somewhere close to home or school.

My parents and little sister will be living in Manhattan as well.

We are excited, nervous, stressed, a little sad -- but overall ecstatic!

<3