Are people truly capable of changing?

I ask myself this question because my sister’s husband, whom I never liked, is all of a sudden a decent human being. My sister has been married for almost 13 years and I have never liked the guy. He has always been inattentive and condescending. I normally only see him once a year during the holidays and over the years he has been changing. This year when they showed up at my house for Christmas he seems like a completely different person.
My sister had surgery two weeks ago and is not able to walk. Right now she is constrained to a wheel chair and to a recliner. Throughout this whole ordeal he has been very attentive towards her, making sure she eats the right kinds of food, gives her a bath every day, and takes care of her wound. Not only that, he feeds and makes sure the kids are doing what they are suppose to do and cleans house.
How does someone go from being a total and complete jerk a few years ago to this?

Are people truly capable of change or is this change temporary?

Fire!!!!

I was driving to work this morning and I saw smoke coming from the general direction where I work and at that very instant I wished it was my office building that was burning so that I didn't have to go in to work today.
It was then that I realized I need a new job or a new position.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together.

Is the old adage true? Do individuals of like character tend to stay together?
A friend of mine had a small gathering over the weekend and I was invited. When I got there and started mingling with the other guest I quickly found out everyone there had issues. One of the guest is on medication to help him with his abandonment issues, another is on medication for depression, another has self esteem issues, and another one brought her gay boyfriend and she really didn't have a clue he was gay. Through out the night I kept meeting people with similar issues, luckily it wasn't a big party.
So I started thinking, if all of the host's friends have issues and the saying is true, am I as bad as these people? And if I am, are my friends a good representation of who I am?

Update on Life

It has been a long time since I have made an update to my blog, so here is an all inclusive update on life as I know it.

School is over and done with for the semester. I don’t have to start back up with school until January. I am going to use the next month to relax and do absolutely nothing. I plan on reading a lot and catching up on all of the books that I have on my “To Read” list.

Tomorrow I start my meditation class. I am going to a Zen Monastery and I am going to learn to relax and clear my mind, something that I am not able to do on my own. I am really excited about it.

There really isn’t much to report on the love life. Or nothing I want to publish for all to read anyway.

The project I was working on for work is complete, well the first phase is anyway, and everyone has been coming by and telling me what a great job we did. Which makes me feel great, especially after all I had to go do make sure things went the way they were suppose to. According to everyone, it was the smoothest project in our work history, which says a lot about the people we had on the project. My stress is finally over, I can go back to sleeping and working normal hours. I have even been leaving early this week.

The second and third phase of the project have begun. The second phase is not going to be as hard or require me to be so dedicated and the third phase mostly involves the broker and the software company. Life is great.

Is the word Awesome making a come back? I have heard more people use the word Awesome these last few days than I have all year. Am I just so out of the loop on this or is such an early 90’s word? Next thing you know we are going to be walking around saying SWEET.

First MBA Semester

As of today I am officially finished with my first semester of my MBA work. I have completed my last paper and I will be turning it in shortly.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was definitely a lot of work but nothing that I can't handle. There isn't anything I can take in the mini-mester so I am done for a while.

I am going to catch up on my reading, world events, and social life.

Blond Moment Two

I have been having way to many blond moments lately. I think it is partly due to the fact that I am overworked and sleep deprived.
On Saturday morning I was having a pancake breakfast with Dameyun and I was trying to pour syrup on my pancakes and instead I poured coffee on my pancake's. Luckily it only got on the top one and I was able to eat the other two. I was so embarrassed, here I am with a guy I somewhat like and I am being a total dumb ass. He thought it was funny and we just laughed it off. By Wednesday I should be all caught up on my sleep and I won't have to work so much, I see the light.

I feel like a blond

I went to Blockbuster to return a movie and I figured that I would run by the library and return a book on the same run since both are relatively close to each other. I got to blockbuster and I had so many other things on my mind that I dropped the book off in the Blockbuster drop box and when I got to the library I noticed I still had the movie with me. I had to go back to Blockbuster and ask for the movie back, it was rather embarrassing especially since it was the cute guy that works there that was at the return counter.
There goes my chances of going out on a date with him.

Black Like Me

I made an amazing discovery today. I discovered the public library. I went to the public library for the first time in almost nine years. I was amazed to see that they still had me in their system and did not have to re-apply to get a new library card. I went to the library to do some research for my Human behavior paper, which I am happy to say is about 95% complete.
I should be working on my stats paper but decided to make an entry instead.

While at the library I wandered through my favorite sections at the book store and found some really good books on religion and cultural issues. I decided to get two books, 1. The Hispanic Condition by Ilan Stavans and 2. Black Like me by John Howard Griffin. I imediately started to read Black Like Me and put my research aside.

For those who have not read Black Like Me here is a synopsis. The author, John Howard, changes the pigment of his skin to try to get a feeling of how it truly felt to be black. Keep in mind that this book was written back in 1959 and the racial conditions of the time were a lot different. Every time I saw the words Negro and nigger I was surprised and I had to remember what I was reading. Back to my summary, at first I was concerned that the author was going to be biased and that simply changing his skin color was going to give him a an accurate view of what was going on in the south but I believe that as time passed and he lived the life of a black man he got to experience the same things blacks did back then. Another thing that concerned me was that there are certain cultural norms and standards that are ingrained in all of us and not having grown up black he would have missed some of those things. But so far I think he is doing a great job. I am only on page 89 and I still have a ways to go before I finish but it looks like a great book.

Pick it up and let me know what you think.

Stress

I don't think I am handling stress as well as I use to in my younger days. Before I was able to work better under stress but these days with everything that I have going on it seems like I am more frazzled that normal. I can't wait for classes to be over in two weeks so that I can actually take a moment to relax and rest. My classes and the big project I am working on at work both end on the same day, on the 15th of November I am going to want to celebrate. You guys better be ready for me.

Thanks for the Memories

What do you say when something that could have been, something that was, or something that you wanted to be is over. I guess there really isn't much to say except "Thanks for the memories."

People...people..who need people...

I stayed home today because I was not feeling well. I woke up late, did some homework, took a nap, I did all of the things you should do when you are home but really should be at work. :)

I am not normally at home during the day and I am sure that neither are any of you that read this, but do you guys realize how many people come around and ring your doorbell while you are gone?
Just today I had Nanette(?) come by and try to sell me magazines.
Jim came by and tried to sell me service for cable.
And I had religious people come by and invite me their church.

So I started to think, what if they really weren't with these organizations and were just the decoy to come to your house, find out if someone was home, and if nobody is home they call their back up and the take everything you own. What if?

Can you tell I am bored? Staying home is not as fun as I thought it was going to be but I did get a lot done.

People, People who need people. Are the most wonderful people.....(sing along with me).

Damn Religious People!!!

O.K. I confess...I don't hate republicans. What I do hate are those over the top religious fanatics who go around imposing their believes on other people!!!

Comments from October 13 Posting

That jerk probably believes that everyone who is not catholic is going to hell!! What ever happened to not judging your fellow brothers and sisters? I really hope god takes compassion on his/her soul for all of the hatred he/she is spreading around.

Damn Republicans!!!!

That is the first thing I thought when I got home from work today and my Kerry/Edwards lawn sign was in pieces on my front porch. I was so mad!!! After my first sign was stolen and with all of the reports of signs being removed from yards by republicans, that was the fist conclusion I jumped to.

Later, I went back outside and I noticed that my yard had been mowed and I realized that my neighbor was probably out moving his yard with his riding mower and just decided to do mine while he was at it. I have been so swamped with work and school work that I was relieved that I did not have to do it myself.

I probably shouldn't have prematurely accused the republicans. I love my republican and democrat brothers and sisters alike.

My birthday will never be the same again!!!

There is a new position that became available in our department and they have asked if one of my employees is interested in applying. It is not just one of....it is the best employee ever. I talked to her about it and she has decided to leave my department because it is a promotion. I am very sad, I want to cry. Why would they deliver this horrible news on my b-day? I don’t even feel like celebrating anymore.

Horrible news!!!

Fear

We all know what are the things we need to change in our lives to make them happier but at times we are unable to make those changes.
Our heart tells us what it is we need to do, but yet we ignore it.

What is it about fear that leaves you paralyzed? What is it about the unknown that keeps you from making changes?

I have reached a new low!!

Yesterday I was at Sam’s with Sarah and Will and we got hotdogs to keep us from starving before dinner and as I was eating my hot dog all I could think about was how many calories were in it and how long it would take me to burn it off if I went for a jog. I was planning on going for a jog at the park once I got home but luckily it started to rain so I no longer had that option. When I got home I was going to get on the treadmill but after thinking about it I decided I was going to fight the fear of gaining weight. I enjoyed the hot dog and it was GOOOOOD.

Did you guys ever see the commercials that were meant for teenage girls? They would talk about issues such as beauty, weight, etc and at the end it would say “Girlfriend, you are beautiful!” and that is how I felt after that having that internal dialogue. Cesar, you are beautiful (no comments from anyone) even if you were to have 10, 20, or 30 pounds extra.

Paulo Coelho

I have a new favorite author, he has written such works as The Alchemist, Eleven Minutes, and By the River Piedra I sat and Wept.

If you have not read any of his works I strongly recommend that you do.

Gift Suggestions

Most of you know I am horrible at selecting gifts for other people and will usually take the easy way out and buy gift certificates.
I need your help, Wade's Birthday is on October the 1st and I want to get him something good for his birthday. I thought about flying up there and surprising him but after looking over my budget last night I have decided that won't be possible.
Does anyone have any gift suggestion ideas?

No Se

Lo dice el o lo digo yo.

"Me Paso dias y dias delante de esos libros y cuadernos haciendo un esfuerzo sobrehumano para comprar mi propia esclavitud.

- Fatima from Paulo Coelho's A Orillas del Rio Piedra Me Sente Y Llore.

A Orillas Del rio Piedra Me Sente y Llore