The youngsters are going off the deep end...

Anyone can look around and see many young teen-agers are not what they used to be. It doesn't even take an elderly person making this statement for it to be true. When my older brother and I were growing up, things were much different than they are now. First of all, we weren't spoiled nearly as much as my younger brother is. I love my brother, just as I'm sure many do their siblings....but his immaturity is enough to make me sick just thinking about it. I know this sounds harsh, but of course, I am and it's the truth. My brother recently got a letter in the mail telling him that his license will be suspended (too many tickets) and my mom is overwhelmed with worrying so much about his life. I told her to kick him out of the house. She is trying to figure out how he can still drive to work and school and many other things. Hopefully, my brother will graduate this year too. He has been held back and has failed numerous classes to get him a year or two behind. Though, many say he isn't like my older brother and me and it takes him a little longer to understand things, I still believe he is smart, just a little lazy without motivated parents. Shoot, my dad..well, my brother and I are lucky to hear from him once every few months, and usually my dad only calls me and doesn't really talk to my brother. It's almost as if he just gave up on my brother a long time ago. My mom tries her best, but because of her mistakes as a young mother, many of the issues my brother and I have are our problems now and she can't do anything about it anymore. Our step-dad...well, lets just leave it as that and not get into details. It's just crazy how the younger generations seem to be less resilient and more off the deep end.
It isn't just with my brother either. I have several other examples.
Of course, there is my husband's younger sister. She is the same age as my younger brother. She would have failed a lot of her classes in high school too if it wasn't for the fact, that her mother does most of her homework for her. I can count how many times I came over to their house and saw his sister watching TV and his mother on the computer or looking through a book doing her daughter's homework. That girl is more spoiled than anyone I've ever met. The daughter drives a brand new SUV and when she says jump, her parent's say..how high. She even throws fits on occassion that would make you believe she was a 13-year-old with a sailor's mouth.
I just pray that when it comes to the time where I encounter parenting that I don't make the same mistakes I've seen parents do, and I can guarantee my children will not be spoiled rotten...or at least not be me or my husband.
....venting over....

Weekend Report...

Friday night was the first time I've ever participated in a trivia competition. A few people from work and a few friends came together for a fund-raiser trivia competition. It went better than I thought it would. First of all, I only knew the questions regarding television. It showed me what I do with my time, pretty sad. Anyhow, together the team knew a lot of the answers. We answered 75 out of 100 qestions correct. We came in second to another team who also had 75 questions correct. The tie-breaker was a prediction of how many questions the teams would answer correctly. Our team thought we would answer around 61 questions right, the winning team had put 62, so they were one closer to their correct score. It was a lot of fun, and I'll forever remember some random questions and answers from the night. For example, the national dog for France is the poodle, the Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield, Mass. and the little girl's character name on Everybody Loves Raymond is Allie. Those are some of the questions we missed. Some of the girls here at work that invited me to join have been so into this trivia thing, they are considering having one hosted by our newspaper we work for. It's kind of sad, I'll be leaving.

Yesterday, I told some of the people of the church we've been attending that I won't be able to help out anymore with their children's ministry. I was a little disappointed in myself that I couldn't help more than what I had. I also will have to approach all of the people in surrounding towns here and let them know I'm leaving. As a reporter, I cover anything going on in a few nearby towns and one in particular has become really close, like a second home while I've been here. I just have developed so many relationships here. It almost makes wish I never came for the year and half I've been year, knowing I would just be going back to my hometown. I left everyone I knew at home and came here. Now, I am again dealing with a similar situation, leaving after I've developed a life here. I know everything will work out fine, it just seems to be difficult at times.

Okay, I need to work on an article over here about giving and donating to needy organizations... I, in addition to the person the article is about, encourage others to dedicate to giving to others.

Until next time...

Man, oh man.

Okay, so I'm suppose to be working over here. Working, working on what? I have no clue. I feel like I hit places here at the paper where it'll be really busy and two days later it can be dead with nothing going on. Go figure. Well, I only have a short while before I won't be worrying about this. I'll be on my feet, moving around, instead of sitting in front of a computer screen. Instead of working with a few people, I'll be working with a few dozen people. And there are a number of other things I am looking forward to when I start my new job. Mostly, I am looking forward to being in a big house with a yard. It's exciting for me. I can't wait to have people over. Of course, it will be really exciting when my husband and I have begin to have children. I think the house will be perfect for the family size we want. I just have to be carefull not to bring home all the pets from my work. Well, that's all I have for the day. I really got nothing, given that there isn't anything for me to work on and the only thing going on in my life is a new house, I really haven't been able to move into yet. Hopefully, when I do move, I'll be able to have the Internet at the house. I have to see if I can afford it first. It might make blogging and talking to friends difficult without the net.
Until next time...

I'm a home owner...

My husband and I closed on our house yesterday. We now have a two-story, 1800-square-foot house. It is really nice and I'm really excited. I'm also very excited about my new job. I went by yesterday to pick up some paper work and the place looks awesome. There is even glass windows to view into the second story where vets will be working on animals and pet owners cleaning their pets. I can't wait to start.

Oh, the shooting a semi-automatic Glock the other day was very fun. Too bad, later I was in pain because the gun had more power than my 110-pound body.

My family took Brandon and I out to eat yesterday to celebrate, and during the dinner my aunt was talking about my cousin. It's still difficult to hear about his circumstance, even when I know he put himself there. He is in correctional facility in Kansas City for minors right now. Eventually, he is suppose to be going to trail for the charges against him. I can't get into those charges here, but I can definitely state that I could have ever expected my little cousin would do what he did. It's really crazy, and hopefully, he is getting the psychiatric help he needs.

Lastly, on this very random, freezing-cold day, I just want to state that I love my husband. I know it is only 1 1/2 yrs into our marriage, but he impresses me everyday, and I'm so glad I'm with him.

Jumping out into mid air, and hoping something is there...

Yeah, so I am going for it. I worked it out with my current employer and made the call yesterday to take a job back home. My husband and I will be doing the long distant relationship thing again -- something we are familiar with. Of course, it could be worse. I interviewed a guy today for one of my articles and him and his wife are states away from one another. She is in Texas while he is in Missouri. At least, my husband and I will just be a little more than a 100 miles away. I think all will be just fine, and I am extremely excited to get back to my family and friends. I loved my job here, but I didn't like the town at all. I like familiarity. I am really close to my family, and I'm ready to go back home.
Oh, on the lighter side of life, I'm going to learn how to shoot a Highway Patrol gun tonight. It'll be exciting. I'm not a big fan of guns, but learning new things makes life interesting.
Until next time...

Difficult decisions

So, I'm adult huh...and well, of course that means more and more difficult decisions to make. Currently, I am making a decision on whether to take a job back in my hometown, where my husband and I are buying a house. My husband will finish his college education, graduate in May and move back then. However, I am looking at a much sooner moving date. I was offered a job that I've always wanted to explore. It is dealing with animals, a passion of mine and possibly some PR work, also an interest. This job means leaving my current position at a newspaper as a reporter. I love my current job as well. (I would do both if they weren't 109 miles away from one another.) I am so frazzled by the decision I am making, and mostly, because there are an equal amount of pros and cons to taking the job. Yes, I even made a pro and con list. However, I will save myself from running through those lists again on here. I have no idea what the right decision is. I just know one way is taking a risk and seeing where it lands me, and the other is playing it safe, which also could be a problem in the future. I can't tell the future, so I must make a decision based on what I know now and the assumptions I have for the future. I pray and hope all works out for the best, and that in the future I don't have such difficult decisions.

Okay, so after the many years hearing everyone talk about blogging, I have joined the crowd. I've been sucked in as a result of my lack of energy after work to pick up a notebook at home and write down my thoughts. I'm a writer at heart, and while I report for the newspaper everyday, it also is a healthy aspect of life just to release personal thoughts without form or structure. It will take me a little while to get my blog up and going because when I'm on the Internet, it is usually for work. Not much of my time is spent doing leisure activities. Well, I'm off to finish an article and begin another one... the story of my life. Of course, I love it.