I sometimes have a hard time being honest and true, if I know that my honesty is going to hurt someone. So, I usually allow a situation go on, further then I want, before I say anything. I have not quite understood what compels me to do this, because I know what I want to say but when it comes time to say it, it just can't come out. At times, I think I care more about other people then I really care about what is healthy and good for me. I don't know what kind of person that makes me, but that is just who I am.
This weekend presented that situation twice. Both times, I found myself agreeing to something that did not necessarily want to do but felt I needed to be gracious in each situation. And, to my surprise, I decided to be honest, up front, with one situation. Instead of letting it eat me up, it just naturally came out. I approached it gently but honestly. There was so much freedom afterwards; because I knew that I would not feel entrapped. And, I was received well, which is what I was afraid of.
I know....I am just rambeling.....
This weekend, I watched Ray. And, much to my surprise, I was really disappointed. My disappointment was not on the acting, because, hands down, Jamie Foxx did an outstanding job. But, I felt that the story and movement of the plot did not grab the viewer. There was not a commanding presence to make sure that I did not miss every minute of that movie. Acutally, in many slots, I was ready for the story to pick up some speed.
So far, this is the only movie in the Oscars that I have watched. I do plan on watching Sideways and Millon Dollar Baby. I hope that they are as excellent as I hear!!
It really is the small things in life that make me happy: waking up in my own bed, starting a pot of coffee, listening to the news in the background, and being home for a few days.
I think that the spring bug has bit me. I have started this rampage in my life of re-organizing everything! It started out with me finishing my taxes on Saturday, which prompted me to re-file all my paperwork, which prompted me to buy more/new organizing files, which prompted me to clean out old files that I did not need. I have now re-organized my office and want to move in my pantry and the much needed attention closet.
Last night, while I was finishing going through the last several years of my life in paper, I watched Good Will Hunting. I forgot how marvelous and beautiful this film is. It is a story of the loneliness that someone has while they put their walls around them, but in all reality they want to let the walls go but they just can't do it. The theme of un-conditional love was powerful and a reminder to me of what I can't be afraid of.
There was one touching moment yesterday in the Memphis airport, as I was leaving for St. Louis. I found myself in Corky's trying to eat some lunch before I left. At a table to the right, were eight marines, apartently leaving to their assignments. They were laughing and goofing off most of the time, and then, I witnessed something that just tore me up. They sat there passing pictures of their families and loved ones arround. One had a wife and three little boys, all dressed liked their dad. That table turned from laughing and playing, to silence and some of them shedding tears.
Now, I have seen many stupid and annoying things on airplanes and in airports. But today took the icing on the cake as I was flying to St. Louis for an appointment tomorrow morning.
First, it started with our plane being delayed because our windshield wipers detection device was not working properly. Normally, this would not be a problem but it was raining in Memphis and St. Louis. This did not bother me, as I just took the extra time to try to sleep. But the women behind me was so scarred that this would be a safety issue and started panicking. After 30 minutes, they decided to leave without this working, as the windshield wipers worked, and got the clearance from the safety people. The lady behind me and her business partner then proclaimed, "Oh great, we are going to be a statistic for the airlines." All the mean time, they freaked out the elderly lady sitting across from them who heard their conversation. Please folks, this is sooooo unnecessary. Have faith in the people who fly these airplanes every day.
Thankfully the flight went well, until the last 15 minutes. I was sitting in the row right behind first class and heard one of the passangers yelling. Looking up, I saw that the steward was asking to take his glass of soda as we were landing. All glasses had to be taken at that moment. This started a heated argument where the passanger was telling the steward not to get in his face. He started threatening the steward, where one of the other stewards kindly asked him to settle down. Well, instead of settling down, he got up and shoved the steward where he flipped over one of the rows!! All over a glass of soda.
This of course started a fury in the airplane. The lady behind me was afraid that this passanger had a gun, which prompted the elderly lady to think that a terroist was on the airplane and we were all going to die. PLEASE PEOPLE!!!
After landing on the runway, we sat for 20 minutes while we waited for the police to come and arrest this guy. They came on, took him off for questioning and collected phone numbers/names of everyone who saw this.
I was just grateful to get off the airplane and have peace and quiet and that the airline people handled this with much care and professionalism.
Nothing makes you feel as diligent and hard working as studying 40+ hours for the state insurance exam and having the test instructor almost laugh when she tells you your results. For both the property and casualty exam, there are two parts: General and Law. Law tends to be the more difficult and the part that causes people not to pass. Well, not for me. I passed law on both exams, but failed the General Property by one point and the General Casualty by three points.
So, I now have to wait 30 days and take the tests again. Thankfully, I don't have to take the law, but I will have to torture myself by being a recluse for about one week to study for these exams again.