How Was Your Weekend?

My past two weekends have been quite eventful.

Last weekend, I was off of school for Easter break (thanks, mom and dad, for letting me go to a Catholic college), so I got lots of chances to see family members again. Yay! I also got lots of chances to go to work. Even more yay!

Well, seeing family again was great, as it always is. We spent all of Sunday at my aunt’s house, where I got to see my two brand new baby cousins, Ella and Cole, once again. Oh, they’re just the cutest babies I’ve ever seen!!! I was so happy to spend some time with them again, and I’m just dying to make another visit. But that, unfortunately, will most likely have to wait until after this semester ends due to finals and work and such. Sigh. Oh, well! I spent about eight hours straight with them last week, anyway, so I think I can make it through for now.

But with all that aside, here’s a picture of the two little munchkins:

Cole:

Ella:

Two pictures, actually; sorry, I guess I’m a liar. But aren’t they just adorable??? I wuv them sooooo much, and I honestly just can’t wait until they’re old enough for me to unnecessarily spoil! Ah, I’m gonna buy them everything. It’s going to be great!

But then there was the other side of last weekend: work. Work was, um, well, also full of babies, except not in a good way, for, apparently, the Saturday before Easter is also National Take Your Screaming, Crying, Cranky Children Shopping Day!

Yay!!!

You don’t know how many kids I almost threw out my store…

But that’s okay cause I don’t either; I lost count.

Anyway, it was an utter nightmare dealing with horribly behaved baby demons all night long, and as much as Easter Sunday and my two little munchkins made me want to one day have babies of my own, I just can’t seem to shake off that Saturday– especially because of the family who accidentally left their stroller (with baby still inside, might I add) in the accessories department and had to come running back in about ten minutes after they left when they finally realized they were down a kid.

I don’t want that to be me. Good Lord, I don’t want that to be me! But if my children scream and cry nonstop, that might just end up being me. So to have kids, or to not have kids: The dilemma of every woman…

As for this weekend, though, it hasn’t been as odd, but it’s certainly one of my more interesting. It’s filled entirely with work, but alongside that has come both revelation and a new job.

Interesting indeed!

The revelation is a bit complicated and so will be posted later (it’s already written but is almost 7,000 words, so yeah…). And as for the new job, well, I’ll also talk about it later, mostly because I’m getting nervous and sweaty just thinking about it, and I don’t have time to get nervous and sweaty; in t-minus two hours, I start my first night at the local paper.

Let me rephrase that, actually: In t-minus two hours, I start my first night at the local paper, which just so happens to be a nationally critically acclaimed paper in a major US city. No pressure, Leah!

I’m just praying that I don’t end up peeing my pants when I get there. I have no idea what to expect, and so I’m kind of losing it. Eeeeeh, whoooo. Eeeeeh, whoooo. Deep breaths, Leah. Deep breaths! In and out, in and out. You can do it! And you will not pee your pants in the process! (Mostly because you just went a few minutes ago.)

Well, in all of this odd change that’s occurring (that I’m not too sure if I like), I ask you to wish me luck, for I definitely need it. And while I hope all goes well, who knows if it actually will. With my luck, it probably won’t! But such is life, eh?

But before I’m done, I’m curious: How was your weekend? I love hearing about other people’s problems; ask any of my friends, and they’ll say it’s my specialty: listening to what’s wrong. So feel free to vent as much as you need! I’m always here to help 🙂

Love you, good luck with whatever you’re doing, and God bless!

A Reading Recommendation: Jay Z is Wrong, Water Service is Not Free

In light of all of the hubbub of late regarding water–and more specifically, the general recent lack thereof–I just wanted to share with you this article on the subject. It’s an awesome editorial from EcoWatch that explains the real reason why we’re finding a shortage of the necessity in so many places of late, and it takes such a fresh, unique, and generally awesome stance on how to fix the matter that I just had to put it out there. So whether or not the piece sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend you check it out; even if you think it’s boring (which it isn’t), it’s still great information to have to chew upon. You can access it here.

If you don’t feel like checking it out, though, the article’s last two paragraphs sum up the stance pretty nicely, and so I recommend that you at least take a second to read them below, just to humor me:

“It’s time for a reality check. Water service is not free, low prices are not to blame for the water crisis and climate change alone is not causing drought. The real culprit is a failure to align our water management policies with environmental and human needs.

We cannot price away our water woes. Instead, we must restore aging, leaking infrastructure systems and better regulate industrial and agricultural water takings to prevent chronic over-extraction. We must recognize the impact of all water use—including industrial and domestic needs, and we must demand collective responsibility.”

It’s a great theory, no?

Well, hopefully you think so! And hopefully you care as much about the issue as I do, as well. I know I may be a bit of an environmental freak from time to time, but trust me when I say that sharing this isn’t a case of me freaking out. We all should care about running out of water, and that’s because, prior to contrary belief, the idea of such happening isn’t just a theory; no, water is not a renewable resource like everyone says it is. Yes, it was, but now we’re using it up faster than ever before, faster than it can be naturally replaced, and so it is going to run out. Maybe not in our lifetime, but it will one day if we don’t change now how we’re using it. And when water is the only thing that keeps us alive–well, let’s just say that none of us want our grandchildren’s grandchildren dying very sudden, very painful deaths because water one day finally runs out. Sure, it may sound melodramatic now, but look at what’s happening with oil: We used to think it would last, but then we realized it isn’t renewable, we never changed our usage, and now we’re starting to run out, which has only caused us to panic and hurt each other as we make various desperate attempts at keeping the last bits for ourselves (because, apparently, that’s easier than innovation). And oil isn’t even necessary to life! So just imagine how awful it will be if we start running out of water, something which no innovation can replace.

So, if about nothing else regarding the environment, please at least try to care about the droughts that are happening around the world as of late. It’s not that hard to be a little more wary of the things that are truly using water during a time like this, especially when God didn’t make water renewable for no reason! We need it to live, so protect it, and stop stripping its fairly unique title away. Learn from history and care about this precious resource, for we’ve seen what not caring about precious resources brings; and the second we all start caring, the second the problem will start being solved–and if the problem gets solved, then disaster will never come from it. So let’s care now, while we still have the chance.

Cause with water being about 60% of us and all, well, it’s safe to say that we definitely don’t want to let this chance fade.

Update: Dreams DO Come True!

This morning, I woke up to the most incredible email ever. It was from my university’s liberal arts college (the one in which I’m enrolled), and it said the following:

“Miss Leah D——:

The ——– College of Liberal Arts has seen, over the past academic year, many of the various scholastic, creative, and journalistic works that you have written, and we have been thoroughly impressed by them all. With that being said, we have been searching over the past few months for a talented student writer to conduct and then compose an academic study on students and the multimedia arts on behalf of the College, and we strongly feel that you would be the perfect fit. The University will provide all necessary funding for this study, and the findings will be professionally published in various academic journals as well as to the University’s own collection housed in the ——- Library. At this time, we would like to officially propose this project to you.”

The email goes on and on with more specific details on what exactly I would be researching, when I would start, what the budget is, how much I would get paid (because, yes, they’re actually going to pay me!! Ahh!), etc., etc. And I just can’t believe this is happening!

Oh, it’s just so glorious! After all this time of doubting myself and my choice to pursue writing, thinking I simply wasn’t good enough, I find that someone actually thinks I’m not half-bad. I just can’t believe it! I thought I was forever going to be nothing, but now I finally get the chance to prove myself to the world, get to finally be professionally published and see if I can make it as a legitimate writer. It’s absolutely incredible! I’m just so stunned, and so flattered. Ah, I simply cannot contain my excitement!

Hmm, thinking about it now, though, I don’t know if it’s alright that I’m telling you all of this. Is this kind of stuff confidential? I sure hope not! But if it is, I’m so sorry, dear school, for not being able to keep my big mouth shut! But, hey, at least I’ve never said just exactly where I go school on here, so I guess that helps out a little with the confidentiality situation.

But, in general, oh well and to heck with the confidentiality and professionalism that I should be treating this with right now! I just can’t help myself, as I’ve said, and that should be expected from a young, excitable college girl (and therefore excused). I mean, I just never thought that anything like this would ever happen to me. Ever. It’s beyond my wildest dreams; even if it isn’t quite exactly my dreams, it’s still a chance, and that’s all that matters, for a chance is what I never dreamed of getting! So it’s amazing. Just absolutely amazing! And that’s why I refuse to hold myself back.

Oh, I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the rest of the day now that I have this on my mind! Sorry, multimedia production and Spanish, but I’m honestly not going to be concentrating much in you today! It’s a good thing I have A’s in those classes, I guess!

I’m going to stop rambling on in excitement now, though; I just couldn’t help but share this awesome news, but now that it’s out, I need to stop before I get on anyone’s nerves. And, uh, sorry if I already have! As I’ve said about a hundred times now, I just couldn’t help it! But you understand, right? None of us can help ourselves when something mind-blowingly awesome happens. It’s simply human nature. So please excuse my little leak of humanity. I’m plugging up the hole right now, as we speak. I promise!

Well, that’s all for now, I guess! I hope your day is beyond your wildest dreams, too! Stay safe, be healthy, and God bless!

Oh, and happy April Fools!

Yes, that’s right, none of the above actually happened; my university still has no idea that I’m a half-decent writer (let alone that I even exist!); I’m still writing only for fun, for classes, and occasionally for my uni’s newspaper; and I’m still very unrecognized and incredibly unpublished.

BUT that doesn’t mean that it won’t one day happen! I’m still ever the optimist, and that’s because I work hard (and hard work always pays off). So don’t get down that I didn’t actually get asked to compose an academic research article — especially because I would hate making one anyway! All dreams come true in time. You just have to keep working at them!

So keep on working at your dreams, and I’ll keep on working at mine! Even though they didn’t come true today, who knows? Maybe all that work will finally pay off tomorrow. You can never be sure! So don’t quit just yet, especially because you have no idea what’s just around the corner. Instead, let’s keep on trucking, keep on turning, and, eventually, we’ll reach where we’ve been striving to go. And the best part is that we’ll reach it together. 🙂

Awww!

Yes, only I would find a way to turn a silly little prank into a mushy life lesson. Gosh, I swear I’m becoming my mother more and more each and every day!

(Help me, I whisper slowly in a coarse, slightly panicked voice.)