PamelaVV

I'm bored and ready to go to bed...even though I know it would be far better for me to study like crazy for tomorrow's chemistry test. I am definitely not good at getting scientific stuff fast...but that's what I get for not studying all along. That's also probably why I haven't done so well on that subject. Hmm.

But anyway...the reason I'm laughing is because I'm so bored that I actually looked to see what might be at a web site called stupidity.com. I mean, I just wondered what someone might put on the web on that subject. And guess what? There's really a web site and it is really devoted to the subject of stupidity! I just started reading the intro. to the first book and it is positively hilarious! I haven't looked carefully to see whether it's supposed to be funny or not, but it cracks me up.

On a more serious note, I went to see the lawyer today...and got a lot more money than I expected. Of course, that wouldn't have to be much, since I didn't expect anything. But it was enough that his third of the money made him very happy.=) And he apparently didn't have too difficult of a time in obtaining it. I'm very grateful that the bills are all paid. But with what I got, which was a little more than a third of the amount, I am going to be able to pay my car insurance for the next six months AND purchase two tickets to Hawaii so that my mom and I can go in August. If anything, this is definitely a clear confirmation that going to Hawaii IS in God's plans for me. I am very amazed and blessed...

Because...my saving for that plane ticket is not going too well right now. In fact, it is not going at all...because my work is basically seasonal, I'm on "vacation." That's very helpful for me in terms of school because of the exams I'm preparing to take (although I'll be going full speed ahead with work AND school at the time of finals)...but it's not helping me save. But anyway, here's this money. Somehow, I never seem to trust that God can provide funds from "other sources." I don't know why. But His provision over the last year or so--not just of things that I need, but things that I want--has been incredible.

Next week, my family is going on an anti-fungal diet. That should be very interesting. It's basically meat and veggies the first week...no grains or potatoes or fruits besides green apples and citrus. No cheese or other dairy besides yogurt. And, of course, no sugar. To be honest, I'm not planning to observe the diet. But maybe I should. I don't know. I don't think I have the problems, but I suppose the diet would at least improve my health. Still, I'm not sure I could live with it...=) I have never gone on a diet before so I have no idea if I'd be able to maintain it.

I'm getting really excited about all the babies that are on the way. I suppose I've probably congratulated the people, but I doubt that I fully expressed how very much I'm looking forward to hearing about the births. There were two newborns at church on Sunday and one of them was just to my right...I was SO distracted. Newborns are so exciting! But, alas, neither of the newborns belong to people I'm really acquainted with...and the expected ones are not in families that I normally interact with, so I'm a little sad. I want to hold a newborn! That's so weird. But anyway. I doubt I will for a long time.=( That's kind of silly for me to say. Oh, well.

Monday, I met with a guy from Western Civilization for a "study group meeting." Two ladies were supposed to be there also, but one was in class and the other had forgotten due to a math test. But I talked to the guy--a Republican and a Christian--about the questions that will be on the test and we eventually talked about what the instructor believes, etc. I said that I was incredulous that the teacher could believe all that he says...but the guys says that he has actually sat down and talked to him about it and he really does believe quite a bit of what he says. I find that so difficult to believe, and yet...it's rather apparent. When someone asked him whether he's an atheist or agnostic, he replied that he is an agnostic. His reason: "The concept that God sits on His throne and judges is too simplistic for me." I suppose one could call his emphasis on science/nature/knowledge agnosticism, but it's really humanism because God's not big enough...right? Sometimes his logic strikes me as faulty, but it's hard for me to see how to combat the reasoning of someone who thinks he is correct...in fact, is firmly convinced of it.

I actually spoke to a friend of mine on this subject...do we HAVE to address all the fallacies that instructors put forward? Although I believe that Christianity is perfectly reasonable, I believe just as strongly that unsaved people canNOT be perfectly reasonable...so that the battle for their hearts is not one that can be won in the intellectual realm. While I believe that we should be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks us why we have hope, I don't believe that we should be smart mouths or cast pearls before swine. If Christianity were merely intellectual, that would work...but it's so much more.

As I looked through the essay questions for the upcoming Western Civ. test, I realized that my thesis for most of them could be, "It's hopeless; the world is imperfect and things will always be imperfect in an imperfect world." And I can support that very well. I can support it based on KNOWLEDGE, FACTS. Knowledge without truth, it seems to me, leads to hopelessness. I think that may have been the essence of Pilate's question to Jesus when he asked what truth was. He missed the Truth that stood before him...perhaps because he had become convinced that there was no such thing? Perhaps because he was cynical, like SO MANY intellectuals?! Solomon was rather cynical, too. Knowledge without truth is empty. So if we have hope...=) We SHOULD show it and people WILL ask...sincerely.

Well, that was a much longer entry than I had planned...this journal is, as many of you have noted, a VERY excellent tool for procrastination. But I think I may regret this tomorrow when I'm taking my chemistry test.=\

I'm working on biology lab reports...after sleeping away the afternoon to try to get rid of a sinus headache. It would have been more logical to take ibuprofen, Vitamin C, and an herbal tincture that I know works, but...I didn't. Now that I'm finally getting these lab reports done (due Monday), our printer is not working...so I guess I'll be going to the public library tomorrow afternoon and paying ten cents a page. The ten cents a page is no big deal, but the thought of trying to have everything perfect by then and only getting one chance for everything to be printed perfectly (because I don't usually discover mistakes until a while later, for some reason) is a little overwhelming. I am very excited that I will be DONE with lab reports by Monday, though. LOL! I'm planning to finish my research paper on Monday, too, which shouldn't be difficult since I don't have to go to English class on that day, and I have a three hour break following it. That means that I'll probably be free from about 10:30 to 3:15, and I could even work on it in my ETEC class since I am already done with everything in there except my presentations (web site and powerpoint) on Wednesday and the take-home final that I won't get until Wednesday. So what that really means is that I'll have from about 10:30 to 4:45 to work on my paper. Think that should be enough time?! LOL! My next draft of that paper is due Wednesday, but for peer review, which usually ends up being worthless to me. Hopefully my teacher will get to look at my paper to tell me if I revised it in a way that is going to help it.

Oh, and my teacher reminded me Wednesday that I need to make sure I have an essay picked for the essay contest. Although it would be amusing to submit my anti-flirting paper to an essay contest (and even more amusing if it got published), I don't really think that any of my papers are or will be contest-worthy. I guess I'll just take all of them on Wednesday and tell my teacher to take her pick.;-) Actually, the process of elimination may help me decide. I have one paper that I consider practically perfect, but it is one that would probably be boring to most people, so I am not sure about it...it's also comparitively long (well, not compared to my research paper). I don't know.

I am supposed to sing with the choir tomorrow morning, but I'm afraid I'll be croaking and coughing if I try, so I'll probably try to ask the director if she'll excuse me for tomorrow. I really thought I'd be able to sing by tomorrow, but now I'm pretty sure that it won't sound very good! I'll have to work really hard to be able to sing well enough for practice Wednesday...our Christmas program is Dec. 21st. The children are going to sing with the adults for one song, and the first joint practice was this past Wednesday...it was beautiful. The children's voices blended beautifully with the adult voices, and the children held their parts pretty well.

We are going to celebrate my dad's birthday tomorrow with crock pot BBQ and cheesecake. Sound good?=) My brother's girlfriend's birthday is on Monday, but I guess we're not going to be celebrating with her. I got a few things for her that I hope she'll like. I have really enjoyed getting to know her on our drives home from school. Speaking of drives home, check this out...it's not THE car, but it's very similar. My parents went to a town an hour or two south of here to purchase it today, but they returned without it because the seller did not have the title. I think they said something about getting it Monday. The differences between it and the car and the picture: it's not from Australia, it only has 125,000 miles on it, it only costed $1,800, and I don't know what features it has. However, I am sure that it is an automatic transmission and that it is blue (probably the same shade as in that picture). My parents both said that it runs very nicely and that I should be able to drive it.

Oh, I forgot...did I ever tell you guys what happened with the insurance company? I'm forgetting who I've told what...a sad situation. Okay, this might be repitition, but I'll go ahead and say it anyway. The day after we visited the lawyer, my dad got a call from the insurance company with an offer for the blue book value of the car (which was $1,900). Apparently, they no longer had any questions about liability when the lawyer's office called them to get a mailing address. LOL! I was sorry that I did not have time to do it myself, but I encouraged my parents to ask about reimbursement for loss of use, which the insurance company said they would give us for sixteen days (less than the amount of time), because "it wasn't their fault that it took so long to determine liability." Yeah, right. I didn't know that it was our job to call a lawyer to convince them that it would be most efficient to determine liability NOW. But that's a lesson learned for me. Anyway, the total amount is going to be $2,400. Medical damages will be determined after my treatment is completed.

So I'm hoping to be able to drive myself to work this Tuesday, after not having driven (except one very short, scary drive) for over a month. Want to ride with me? :-)

Man, this is turning into a long entry...and I'm not getting my lab reports done. I can't use this computer to do them, though, and one of my brother's is playing Delta Force on the other computer, so I guess I can keep writing this journal entry until he heads off to bed, which I doubt he's planning to do anytime soon. Since I slept all afternoon, I should be able to stay up as late as necessary to complete my work.

My math test yesterday was a whole lot easier than I expected...I hope my grade reflects that. My teacher said that we could get our grades from her on Tuesday or Thursday, but I will be working on those days, so that will not be practical for me. She said that she would replace our lowest test grade with the percentage of the final (if it's higher), so I'll just study as hard as possible for the final. If I don't take the final, I would already have enough points in the class to get a C, but I guess I'll take it (;-)) since I want an A. I am so glad that I won't have to take any more math. I'm also glad that college algebra does not include (at least in the text we used) trigonometry or geometry.

We have a Christmas tree...about fifty per cent of the ornaments are snow flakes. It's kind of pretty, but the ornamentation is rather sparse, in my opinion. I can't wait until my nose is better and I can smell the tree...it's a real one! I have multi-colored lights up in my room. They're not exactly arranged in a most beautiful way, but they're up where they're most convenient, and my little brother and sister who share a room with me enjoy them. I'm hoping to get my little nativity set set up along with a few other Christmas things soon...maybe tonight or maybe tomorrow afternoon. Oh, but there's AWANA tomorrow afternoon. Hmm. Always stuff to do.

I started my Christmas shopping last night, somewhat unintentionally. I went to WalMart without a list, but with some ideas about what I needed to get. I found a sci-fi book that I think my 14 y.o. brother will really enjoy. In case he chances to read this (which I doubt), I won't say which one, but it looks VERY exciting.

I don't have to go to history until the final, but my teacher in that class will be doing a review Monday night, so I'm planning to go then. My teacher in history has been very good...even though I've had fewer class sessions with him than with any other teacher (maybe half as many), I feel like I have gotten more intellectual stimulation (overall) in his class than in any other. Still, he didn't ask any interesting questions until the last day of lecture. The class is US History to 1877, and the question he asked was whether or not nullification and secession are real. Haha. I thought of Cris when Mr. S said this. Because nullification and secession were only clarified as ideas and never enacted into law, my answer (although I said nothing in class) would be that technically/legally the secession of the south was not "real," but it was real in a practical, literal sense. And since practical and literal win out in actual reality over legal/technical stuff, I would say that the war that transpired should be sufficient evidence that the south's secession was, at least in a sense, real. If what the south had done wasn't "real," then the north would not have been able to react...or so it seems to me.

But back to the point that I was wanting to make...which is that I have had very little intellectual stimulation in any of my classes. That has been incredibly disappointing to me, but I guess I can wait until I get into more advanced classes. What I have been doing is reading other things about the subjects I'm studying so that I won't be totally bored and so that I'll be able to find answers that things that interest me. One of the books I have been reading is by an orthodontist who presents a startling clear case for DEVOLUTION (as opposed to evolution). He has done extensive research, but beginning with Biblical assumptions. Unlike many scientists (particularly paleontologists), he does not find it necessary to explain things away in order to support his assumptions. The book he wrote contains a lot of information on neanderthal bones (especially skulls) that he x-rayed himself. One of the most convincing proofs he presents of devolution, though, is the decline in the age of the onset of puberty...think about what you know about it. While many scientists may tell us that early man matured much more quickly (and apparently with less complexity), the patterns we have documented over the more recent past contradict that idea. I'm not done with the book, but I've gotten pretty far in it, and I'm looking forward to finishing it.

I wonder how much insurance is going to cost on my new car. Hmm. I guess I'll find out soon enough. My parents are thinking of switching from State Farm to USAA because State Farm refused to help us deal with the other insurance company...the reason they refused is that I only had minimum liability and I wasn't at fault. I have a friend who was in an accident fairly recently, and she WAS clearly at fault...she only destroyed her own vehicle. Apparently, her insurance company only wants to give her half the value of her car...even though she has been paying for full coverage. I'm beginning to convert to my brother's way of thinking that auto insurance is a legal scam in which we are required to participate. I honestly don't think that I should need to employ a lawyer just to communicate effectively with them! Maybe in one of my speeches that I get to do in Fundamentals of Communication next year I can go ahead and talk about auto insurance. That should be very interesting. I really should have done my research paper on that, but I didn't and it's too late to change. I'm sure there'll be other papers. And even if there weren't, I could always write anything I want to anytime that I have time.

So there's my long entry to make up for not doing many (if any) entries for so long. I still skim entries, but less often since I have less computer access and less time. I don't know how much time I'll have during the Christmas break, even though there will probably be at least three people being hired in the next few days. LOL! The lady I started with and I will probably be sharing training "privileges." I have GOT to get pictures.

Okay, I really must go...I just sent my brother to bed, so I should do something with the other computer. Goodnight (for now)!

but I've been buried in things to do. I'm afraid to get my biology test score...but that won't be for a week, so I guess that's all right. And I'll still have another test to make up the average.

I still don't have a car. And I'm still seeing the chiropractor...which has been quite inconvenient. This week, I get to stay at school all day both on Monday and on Wednesday, which will be very nice...especially since our computers at home are not working. I can't get on-line at home at all.

I feel really bad about not really replying to comments, but I just have not had the time or the energy to do much at all. Unfortunately, everything that is happening is overwhelming to me and so much more just because I don't get to do the writing that I usually do--which allows me to analyze, reflect, and move on. Maybe today...but then again, maybe not until after the semester is over.

I hope you all are well! If I don't get on here right after the semester ends, I should be on after Christmas (work will probably keep me occupied very much before Christmas). As overwhelmed as I sometimes feel, I'm happy not to be too bored!=)

Now, I'm headed off to English for an "individual review."=)

I got examined, then had some x-rays done...I'll go back tomorrow, which will be quite interesting. My Honda is gone, and now our van is leaking gas like crazy. My dad and brother both work tomorrow (only their cars are in working order), I am due to go to school (morning), a chiropractor appt (noon), and work tomorrow (afternoon), and my mom needs to take my littlest brother to the chiropractor in the morning. Our whole family (or most of us, at any rate) is going to a hot dog roast tomorrow evening...so getting everything from where they have been to where they need to be is going to be very interesting tomorrow. I need to call the lady I work for in a few minutes to see if she can either let me off tomorrow afternoon or if it would be convenient for me to just take me to her parents' house, since that's where we're going for the bonfire.=) I guess I'll find out soon. It is very inconvenient not to have a car! And now my back and neck ache more, since the chiropractor must have hit some sore spots in his exam. That is one exam that I did rather poorly on...now to make sure this insurance thing will work, because I cannot imagine paying for all those x-rays.

I just paid one dollar for a bottle of juice...bad price, and very corn syrupy juice. I have only had half of it, and I'm thinking of pouring out the rest.

My body aches worse today...I guess it's going to keep getting worse. I'm actually to the point of being quite grateful that I'm going to see a chiropractor tomorrow. Supposedly, the car insurance (of the truck driver, I guess) will pay for all of this. I think I'm almost over the shock of what happened (which I think was more emotional because of the ATV accident when I was fifteen), but I'm not sure how I'll feel about it once I'm back on the road myself.

You know, verses in Scripture this morning really stood out to me...but I can't remember them now. That drives me nuts! The only thing that keeps going through my head is what Paul said to Timothy about being a good soldier. I think it's something like, "Thou therefore be a good soldier of Jesus Christ." I think God calls all of us to that...although I'm not entirely sure of what it means. I think a big part of it is prayer...and that has become a bigger part of my life as I wonder how in the world to tell others about Christ's love for them. Here in the Bible belt, everyone is "saved"--or so most of them think. I think at least a third of the people in my Biology class are professing Christians...and definitely non-evolutionists. We "discussed" cloning and DNA testing this morning. My classes are a little amusing in that respect because we don't ever usually know enough about a topic to discuss it very thoroughly. In English, we sort of had a discussion about the impact of violent media on children (although it was supposed to be completely objective in the sense of playing the role of the writers of some articles we had been reading).

These discussions kind of revealed something to me about myself, though...instead of really saying what I thought, I would ask people question...after question...after question. That is how I analyze things, and I guess I just assume that everyone else does the same. The thing is, people think that since I ask questions I must also know the answers. Haha. Not quite. But it was interesting...it is often rather revealing of what people think. In talking about cloning and DNA testing, we found out who in the class supports abortion...which actually ended up telling me more definitely who is "saved" (not by itself, but through other comments). So many Christians! It's very cool.

Well, I must go now...kind of an empty entry here, but that's how my brain feels at the moment.;-)

Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Remember that entry about the 1986 Honda Accord? I think I said goodbye to it tonight...but the Lord preserved my life. I don't think I'm injured either.=) I was in a car accident, as you have probably surmised. For now, suffice to say that I was not at fault BUT I don't have a car, so these next few days or weeks should be interesting.