Looking For The Turkey

You know, coming up with these different titles everyday gets harder and harder. Happy Thanksgiving one and all. I was awoken on this glorious day by the sound of a ringing telephone at 7:00 AM. It was my Aunt Linda, she was wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving. How Nice... The ironic part is that I heard my name a few times in their conversation. That always raises my level of concern. Never the less, with my low amount of sleep, I reasoned that it still wasn’t enough and I returned to that beautiful state of solace.

I drove over to Palm Bay which is about a thirty minute drive to pick up my Grandma. My Mom and Brother both had to work today (Tommy ended up getting off a few hours early), so we had a few hours to kill until lunch. We just drove around listening to The Get Up Kids. She was like, “Jeffery, I can barely hear it, turn it up.” Haha, my Grandma is really a closet indie-rock-girl.

(Break For Food)

I just got done eating lunch. Thanksgiving is one of the only holidays that my family sits down together to eat a meal. Christmas and New Years are the other exceptions. I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but I really want my family to sit down and eat dinner together, every night or as much as possible. Before we ate, my Dad asked me to pray. So, I prayed. Anyone that doesn’t attend a Bible college would be impressed by my semi-theological phrasing and a low degree of eloquent wording. Don’t get me wrong, I just prayed, nothing special, definitely not a big deal. I really get annoyed when the “holy-rollers” spend five minutes seemingly patronizing the audience with their big theological words which honor thy glorious unfathomable sovereign Father who so abundantly bestows his glorious riches upon our depraved souls. So, I just said a prayer and you know me, I’m a little long winded sometimes. My family raved about it. They acted like I finally learned how to pray and the Lord was working in my life (which he is and has been). It was quite funny to me. Lunch was good. I love the way my Dad cooks. We had turkey, dressing, collard greens, avocado, rolls--yeah, the works. So, I’m full and feeling extremely obese, but it’s such a happy feeling.

The purpose of remembrance is to recall and bring back to mind the thoughts and feelings that remind you of a time once well known. I don’t know what I could say that would reflect what I’m feeling today. I have so many things thankful for:

I’m blessed for knowing everything I know. Learning is so special. I’m thankful that I have a mind still to learn new and wondrous things.

I’m thankful that I was brought up by my family. I love them and don’t always like them, but they truly are the reason for me being alive and somewhat of the reason for why I am who I am. I don’t deserve them.

I’ve been blessed with great friends. They all mean more to me than they could possibly know. Each one, special in their very own way. All the beauty, intelligence, and special qualities that they all posses individually. They understand friendship and are the epitome of the word.

I am thankful for everything I have. I have so much, I am blessed. Material possessions don’t really matter in the whole scheme of things, but I enjoy all of it that I have.

And most importantly, I am thankful for my relationship with God. It might seem a bit cliché to say that, but I do enjoy it and am blessed that God has sought a purpose for my life. I so don’t deserve it, and I let Him down so much, but he is faithful to me, even when I’m not faithful to him. That’s joy!

These are all my reasons to continue on. Sometimes the road looks so cluttered and I cannot see the end result. It’s because of all these blessings that I stay keeping on keeping on. I hope everyone can read this and see their own reasons to be thankful. If you’ve contributed anyone to this list, thank you. I am thankful for you...

“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude." ~E.P. Powell

It's Just Me Against The World

At this point in the evening, I'm really pissed off. I have been trying to post about my day and as fate would have it, my browser crashed and we had a power bump. On two different times, I've lost everything I had written. So, as a result of that, I've lost a lot of time that was spent writing. So, here goes a summery of the day:

-I did four loads of laundry (that makes a grand total of half-a-dozen)
-I spent many hours outside working in the yard
-Manuel labor is not fun
-I dug up a 50 pound slab of cement that was holding a pole with a light on it
-I dug up a wire that was from said slab of cement about 10 feet to the house
-I picked up about 5 garden hoses from the yard, which was covered under a years worth of dirt and weeds
-I drove around Melbourne running errands for my folks
-I spent an hour in Wal-Mart, which should have only taken 15 minutes
-I picked up all of my dress clothes from the dry cleaner. Yeah, the total was about 20.00
-I helped chop carrots and celery

-- ok, so it seemed like a lot. Hopefully tomorrow I will be in the mood to reflect on why we celebrate this holiday. If not, just go watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special. It's so informative...

Have A Good Holiday...

How WHITE are you?

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Monday Monday

Really, really... I haven't done a whole lot today. I went to bed at 3:00 AM last night and got up at 6:00 AM. Crystal Kepler and I were caravanning to Jacksonville, Florida. Then I would get off and try to find Bethany's house. We pulled out of the Graceville Manor, where Crystal Kepler's apartment is at 7:00 AM. We only stopped one time for some breakfast because we were both falling asleep in our separate cars. We waved our goodbyes and I proceeded to find my way. Well, I don't feel like explaining my day's driving experience. Let's just say, I got home and it was 9:30 PM. I saw my friend Nate Beagle from high school. He's employed at the local Blockbuster Video. It sort of felt good to say that I was graduating in May and he was still working on his AA. But, not to imply that I'm harboring bitter feelings, it was good to talk to him and catch up. I spent about five hours in Jacksonville today. I got to meet most of Bethany's family, except for her Dad. I would have liked to meet Dr. Dunlap, but I'm not too disappointed. Meeting Fathers isn't a big objective on my life goals list. Meet The Parents is one of my favorite movies for a reason. I got to see former students, and friends Anna (Bethany's sister) and James Desuyo. When Bethany and I were visiting Anna's first grade class (I think), they told me about a little black girl who had a cool name. They told me her name, I kind of believed them, but I wanted to see proof for myself. So, I got a piece of paper and asked her if she would write out her full name for me. She did. Her name is: EBONY ANN IVORY. I think that's worth at least 25 comments. I'm off to catch up on a semester's worth of sleep.

"Well, it's cold and there are warmer places than here."

BET

Please bet on me
So maybe you will see
What this could be

Four hundred million miles away
Losing you is causing me to sway
I could never see another way

Gambling makes fools for life
Causing nothing but grief and strife
I’d wager anything for you to be my wife

Help me to get over this
To be able to live life without your kiss
For that would be true bliss

Up In Smoke

For once, there really is nothing to do. I still have two papers to write. I have at least 5 finals to study for. There is stuff I could be doing. But, I'm sure I'm just like everyone else who has a Saturday off and just wants to relax. So, I've been relaxing today. I'm going to my hometown (Melbourne, FL) on Monday for Thanksgiving. I'm stopping by Jacksonville to see my friend Bethany Dunlap and hang out with her for a few hours. I'm excited about going home. I have not been home since August, so it will be good to get away. Like I said, I'm relaxing. Recovering from probably the busiest week of the year, I'm just trying to get everything done before I jet home.

Today, Justin and I went to Wendy’s for lunch. We rented some DVDs and I got my oil changed. While we were at Wendy’s, we saw our friend Zack from school. We were talking to him for a few minutes. He told us he was on his break. I got a refill and Justin asked Zack where he lived. Zack said, "I live in Ponce De Leon." Justin and I were like, that's cool. And, without saying another word, Zack just walked to the back, and did not come back up front. He didn't say anything. Haha? Justin and I looked at each other and we're like, "Alright? That was interesting." Zack just left. So, as Justin and I were walking out, we figured if you live over there, instead of saying bye, you say Ponce De Leon. We kept saying it over and over again as we were walking out the door. Well, my friends, I need to go and do some cleaning. And figure out what my night holds...

Ponce De Leon

MxPx = Magnified Post

Well, the first real post from me in a while. The end of the semester pressure is still on, but thanks be to God, my paper is FINALLY done! So, with a title page, table of contents, 3 appendices, and 29 pages of my writing, it turned out to be 43 stinking pages. That's the most I've ever written in my entire existence. So, don't expect any cool ten-dollar-words this week. Well, you don't get that many anyway. Tomorrow is the last day of school until the following Monday (after Thanksgiving). I've been telling people, I'm lusting over this break. I'm sure that's not healthy, but you don't realize how badly I would like to be gone. I want to write everything I'm feeling. But, I don't want to be near anything that has a keyboard or monitor, so...

"Sin is incurable by the strength of man, nor does free will have any validity here, so that even the saints say: 'The evil which I do not wish, this I do.' 'You are not doing the things which you wish.' 'Since my loins are filled with illusions,' etc."

You are Martin Luther! Yeah, you have a way of letting everyone know how you feel, usually with Bible quotes attached, and will think your way through the issues, although sometimes you make no sense! You aren't always sure of yourself, and you can change your mind about things, something you actually consider a strength. You can take solitude, especially with some music.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

<<<---!---'--^---.MiD*WaY.---^--'---!--->>>

I think messing around with the title to this post took longer than the actual writing of the post itself. So, as you can clearly see, I'm about halfway through with my paper. I'd like to get it done tonight, but if I can’t convince my boss I'm too sick to work, then I just might not. I'm so tried of writing. I feel like I've used every clever phrasing and ten-dollar word I know. I have about 12 pages of content now, which is good. But, I'm still tired of writing. So, why write a post? Well, I'll tell you. It's not writing a paper! I worked on the paper for maybe an hour cumulatively on Thursday and Friday. Saturday, I spent about 5 hours on it. Sunday, I spent about 6 hours. I went to bed at like 3:00 AM. Got up at 7:20 AM. Went to my 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM classes. Came in about 10:00 AM and typed until 12:10 PM. Then I got some lunch and went to theology and now I'm done for the day. All that's left is this paper and a notebook for my mental disorders class, but that's easy. Well, I'm back to the grind. I'm going to post a song I like. It helps me think, clearly, on my own...

Madison Prep by Further Seems Forever, from the album, The Moon Is Down

Give up what you think you have to say.
Formalities weaken the meaning that you'd convey.
In truth hidden in the veiled insults,
have failed results for everyone that lived that way.

The training spent on all your words
was obvious in all we heard
was repetition.
Representing your best interests
while wishing us
"the very best"
when that's something
that you would never give.

And some things are better stressed
when unexpressed,
cause silence can be overwhelming

We'll find some way
Some way that we can prove you wrong