Just today...

Today is a beautiful day in New Orleans.  I spent the morning at the eye doctor where I learned my astigmatism has slightly increased, but other than that all is well!  I'm glad I made an early appointment because it was so nice driving through the city with the music up and windows down!  I really enjoyed it.  The area of Gentilly (the Dillard subdivision) where my doctor's office is is very nice.  I'm not too familiar it, but it was very clean with lots of trees, wide streets, and it was quiet.  My eye doctor is so friendly, and he was in no rush.  He was on time to my appointment, and spent a whole 45 minutes with me!  He evaluated my eyes to the sharpest vision possible then we chatted while he entered the data into their seemingly new computer system.  It's probably why his appointments are so spread out... it took me 3 months to get!

I went to Adoration after, which is always nice.  I really look forward to it each week, though when I first made the commitment, I was nervous about breaking away from my daily routine to go and sit still for an hour with Jesus.  It's actually quite easy to do.  I spend the first 10 minutes quietly praying, then I read the day's mass readings slowly, line by line.  I got down in a little notebook any interesting thoughts.  Then, I have a meditation that I read from my Laudate Android app.  I read that slowly, then jot down any thoughts.  I end by spending the last 10-15 minutes in quiet adoration prayer, also which I find on my Laudate app.  The one hour really flies by!  I really like my 11am-12pm time slot, because the church bells right right at 12, so it is an easy signal that it's time for me to leave without me having to glance at the clock.  After doing this a few times now, I have built up quite a collection of notes, and I read through some of them today.  I am noticing trends and common themes in the things I write about, and that gives me a boost knowing that I'm living my life according to the truth I find in Catholic teachings.  The same truth appears in different ways each week, and I love that constancy.  I always wonder if people think that I'm piddling around texting on my cell phone while I'm supposed to be adoring Jesus.  But, I hope people realize that Bible, meditation, and prayer apps are easy ways of accessing spiritual texts that are excellent supplements during prayer time.  Nobody's bothered me about it yet.

The rest of my afternoon has been devoted to career planning and school work.  Besides a normal flow of reading, analyzing, and writing essays, I'm considering a certification in special education.  I'm in the beginning phases of consideration, but am feeling a strong pull towards it.  I'll write more about that later.  We shall see what the next few days have in store for me! 

Advent: Friday, Third Week

Today's Action: Renew the intention to spend quiet time resting in the presence of the Lord. Be a light and save haven for others.

I'm going to not necessarily reflect on today's action, and instead, I'm just going to freewrite. I'm not feeling like being confined today.

I'm finding it hard to rationalize the bad things that happen in the world. Firstly, this crazy elevator instance where the lady got caught in it and died! It's just awful! What a strange nanosecond in time. I pray for her family and friends, as well as for her, that God takes care of them all.

I'm so ready to start this next phase of my life. It doesn't help that I'm sick. I hate not having the energy to do all the things on my to-do list. It really sets me back because I don't allow enough time in for back up. With all the stuff going on at work though, I can't help but feel just a tiny bit of guilt... some feeling of not finishing what I started. I keep praying that God will take care of all the people I work with. I know from past experience that, with time, things will just work themselves out they way they need to. The company will not go under just because I'm leaving, and hopefully, I'm banking on the fact that now someone else will get to shine. The company will have a new beginning as well, so that's exciting, right?

I want to maintain all the relationships I have. I know it's easier said than done, but this time I really want to try.

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.

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!  :)