I believe every family has some sort of dysfunction within their family. The difference is that most families are willing to talk about it with others, and the "ideal" family keep their "dysfunctions" more private. You can read the newspaper or watch the news daily and see how many of the tragedies involving families are quoted as saying "They were the ideal family, they lived normal lives from what we could see." And the news report says "Father murders entire family.....". "From what we could see....", that phrase right there shows you that obviously this little "ideal" family probably went on their daily lives as if nothing was amiss, yet the dysfunction was kept under wraps until the tragic event took place.
The Walls family in The Glass Castle, on the other hand, had obvious dysfunctions that everyone was able to see, yet their dysfunctions were a daily living to them. Sometimes the family members made it a point to blurt out their dysfunction with pride. There are different degrees to how dysfunctional a family is, the Walls family to me seemed extremely dysfunctional, yet who are we to judge other family dysfunctions just because it's not what we consider "functional".
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Dreaded Winter
I was just sitting here thinking about what to write for this weeks blog when I looked out the window. I thought, "what a beautiful day". Instantly another thought came to mind, "Oh my gosh, there won't be many of these beautiful days left". Winter is just around the corner so I am thinking bundling, shoveling snow, trying to get the car out of the driveway, and blah, blah, blah! The list can go on and on when it comes to winter.
Last February I was in a scary situation. I was driving to my job in Plainview when I hit some slush on the road. My car shot sideways into the other lane, hit some dry tar, and rolled over. My first big car accident and let me tell you....it's not something I EVER care to do again. I was hanging upside down in my car, seat-belted in for over 30 minutes until the ambulance came. I was lucky to have many people stop to help including a nurse! The nurse checked me all over before she would even consider unsnapping the seatbelt. I was scared to death, laying there in the emergency room in a neck brace. They asked me how much I liked my coat, because they were considering in cutting it off. I said "I would rather you not because I just bought this coat." The poor EMT's had to carefully take my coat off, while I was strapped on the stretchboard.
I did learn some valuable lessons last winter though, make sure your tires actually have a tread on them, don't carry a wad of cash on you, get a job closer to your home. This winter my tires will HAVE a tread, I no longer carry a wad of cash, and my job is now very close to my home. I still can't wait till NEXT SUMMER! The only good thing I can see with winter is the arrival of my ugg boots in a couple of weeks!
Last February I was in a scary situation. I was driving to my job in Plainview when I hit some slush on the road. My car shot sideways into the other lane, hit some dry tar, and rolled over. My first big car accident and let me tell you....it's not something I EVER care to do again. I was hanging upside down in my car, seat-belted in for over 30 minutes until the ambulance came. I was lucky to have many people stop to help including a nurse! The nurse checked me all over before she would even consider unsnapping the seatbelt. I was scared to death, laying there in the emergency room in a neck brace. They asked me how much I liked my coat, because they were considering in cutting it off. I said "I would rather you not because I just bought this coat." The poor EMT's had to carefully take my coat off, while I was strapped on the stretchboard.
I did learn some valuable lessons last winter though, make sure your tires actually have a tread on them, don't carry a wad of cash on you, get a job closer to your home. This winter my tires will HAVE a tread, I no longer carry a wad of cash, and my job is now very close to my home. I still can't wait till NEXT SUMMER! The only good thing I can see with winter is the arrival of my ugg boots in a couple of weeks!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
"The Fakebook Generation" - My response
I do not have any social network other than this "blogger" website. Therefore, I have not seen nor experienced any facebooking myself. My blog will be focused on "The Fakebook Generation" and the experiences I have learned about from others.
The part of "The Fakebook Generation" that stuck out to me the most was how the "older" generation uses Facebook as a social network. My Grandmother was recently connected to Facebook. Grandmother can't wait to have a new "friend" join her site. However, Grandma fails to see that she spreads rumors and degrades people, and then allows those people in on her site!
Grandma uses it as a bragging site for all of the junk she invests in, also. In her next breath, she tells her friends how she has no money to spend time with them. If they confront her on it, she denies ever having written about spending money and buy all her worldly goods (junk). "Hello, Grandma! You typed it in there for all to see!" Now Grandma wonders why she is deleted from so many "friends" sites.
I have heard of other incidences like Grandmas and wonder if Facebook isn't actually causing tension and grudges in adult relationships, instead of "enriching" them as Alice Mathias describes in her essay. It seems as though collage students and the elder generation have two entirely different views on Facebook. The younger generation seems to be using Facebook as a social outlet from the daily grind (more of a playful site). The older generation uses it as a way to write a letter to someone, paying no attention to the fact that all of his or her "friends" will be reading the "private" letter. Where is the comedy to which Alice Mathias is referring to?
The part of "The Fakebook Generation" that stuck out to me the most was how the "older" generation uses Facebook as a social network. My Grandmother was recently connected to Facebook. Grandmother can't wait to have a new "friend" join her site. However, Grandma fails to see that she spreads rumors and degrades people, and then allows those people in on her site!
Grandma uses it as a bragging site for all of the junk she invests in, also. In her next breath, she tells her friends how she has no money to spend time with them. If they confront her on it, she denies ever having written about spending money and buy all her worldly goods (junk). "Hello, Grandma! You typed it in there for all to see!" Now Grandma wonders why she is deleted from so many "friends" sites.
I have heard of other incidences like Grandmas and wonder if Facebook isn't actually causing tension and grudges in adult relationships, instead of "enriching" them as Alice Mathias describes in her essay. It seems as though collage students and the elder generation have two entirely different views on Facebook. The younger generation seems to be using Facebook as a social outlet from the daily grind (more of a playful site). The older generation uses it as a way to write a letter to someone, paying no attention to the fact that all of his or her "friends" will be reading the "private" letter. Where is the comedy to which Alice Mathias is referring to?
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Life's "Imbalance"
Today my blog is going to be about my struggle with working a full time job, going to school and trying to have some kind of life. I work a full time job as a nursing assistant at Samaritan Bethany Heights. I work in the rehabilitation area. In the rehabilitation area, we care for eldery residents who have been sent from the hospital with a previous injury. Each day we have to learn about new residents and there injury status and rehabilitation progress. Then we proceed to take care of their daily needs as we see will help them in the best possible way. This is a very physical job with alot of moving around, getting supplies as needed, and going from resident to resident. This is a very critical thinking job, also. A nursing assistant, when entering a room, needs to keep in mind each type of injury and how it affects the patient. We are expected to remember and chart the residents behaviors, and the type of care we gave them. After a long day of eight hours or more of work, I am physically and mentally exhausted.
On my drive home, I immediately begin to think of all the school work that is due for that day. I try to get right to any assignment as it is given, so I may leave room for any new assignments. Most of the assignments require a long drawn out thought process, in addition to the critical thinking that I just finished with at my job. Sometimes these assignments can take hours to complete. There are many nights when I am working on assignments until past midnight. The alarm clock goes off way too early those mornings!
A full day of going to work and doing school assignments leaves me with no time for family and friends, and extra outside activities. I feel as though my entire young life is being spent making money to live, and going to school to be able to make more money to keep up with the cost of living. This leaves me with very little, or no time to actually have any sort of enjoyment in my life. I try to balance my school, my employment, and my outside life, but have yet to find enough time to fit all of it in. Then I look over at the laundry pile and the stack of dishes and realize I can't have an outside life!
On my drive home, I immediately begin to think of all the school work that is due for that day. I try to get right to any assignment as it is given, so I may leave room for any new assignments. Most of the assignments require a long drawn out thought process, in addition to the critical thinking that I just finished with at my job. Sometimes these assignments can take hours to complete. There are many nights when I am working on assignments until past midnight. The alarm clock goes off way too early those mornings!
A full day of going to work and doing school assignments leaves me with no time for family and friends, and extra outside activities. I feel as though my entire young life is being spent making money to live, and going to school to be able to make more money to keep up with the cost of living. This leaves me with very little, or no time to actually have any sort of enjoyment in my life. I try to balance my school, my employment, and my outside life, but have yet to find enough time to fit all of it in. Then I look over at the laundry pile and the stack of dishes and realize I can't have an outside life!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
My Mom~
The person I have the best memories with is my Mother. After all, my Mommy has been with me my whole life. Even at my age of 21 years old, she is still there for me. When I was young and getting into lots of trouble as an active child, my mom use to laugh at some of my naughtiness. She use to say "As long as she is not hurting herself or someone else, we might as well enjoy her silliness". My mom took my sister and I everywhere with her. When we were at a place with lots of people she would have my sister stick a finger in her back pocket so she could keep track of her. She would put me on a leash because I liked to run away and get lost in the crowd. Whenever there was something not right with me, my mom would sense this because she knew me so well. Sometimes I would just cry, and she would say "Oh, you just need a nap, your just really tired". I would look at her with teary eyes and say "Yes Mommy".
When I got old enough to have my own room, I would all of a sudden stand in the middle of my room and scream that "something is not right". Mom and my sister, Amber, would come running in my room and ask what was wrong. I would tell them "I don't know but something is just not right". My mom would look around my room, walk over to something in my room and move it just a bit and say "Well Ashley, is it this? This was turned the wrong way." She got it right every time! I know now that it wasn't the item she had right every time, but the sense of peace it gave me that she there to help me.
Then I became a teenager. My parents had no idea that this busy fun little girl would become their worst nightmare. I got in to more trouble than you can imagine. Each time my mom was right there to find me, to talk to me, and bring me back home. She kept talking to me about what I was doing and where this would lead me, and that she understood this was something I needed to do. Yet each time she was the one person who stood by me and dealt with it all. She would still kiss me on the cheek, tuck me in, and tell me she loved me every night.
I relied on my Mom to always be there and she was. I did outgrow the teenage years and my naughtiness, and my Mom tells me everyday how proud she is of me. When I go to my Mom's house, I still consider it my home even though I no longer live there. She welcomes me as always. Her home cooked meals always remind me of my childhood and growing up in our home. I am glad I have the mom I do because she always has been able to deal with me in a way I am not so sure anyone else would have been able to. I Love My Mom and Cherish Our Memories!!
When I got old enough to have my own room, I would all of a sudden stand in the middle of my room and scream that "something is not right". Mom and my sister, Amber, would come running in my room and ask what was wrong. I would tell them "I don't know but something is just not right". My mom would look around my room, walk over to something in my room and move it just a bit and say "Well Ashley, is it this? This was turned the wrong way." She got it right every time! I know now that it wasn't the item she had right every time, but the sense of peace it gave me that she there to help me.
Then I became a teenager. My parents had no idea that this busy fun little girl would become their worst nightmare. I got in to more trouble than you can imagine. Each time my mom was right there to find me, to talk to me, and bring me back home. She kept talking to me about what I was doing and where this would lead me, and that she understood this was something I needed to do. Yet each time she was the one person who stood by me and dealt with it all. She would still kiss me on the cheek, tuck me in, and tell me she loved me every night.
I relied on my Mom to always be there and she was. I did outgrow the teenage years and my naughtiness, and my Mom tells me everyday how proud she is of me. When I go to my Mom's house, I still consider it my home even though I no longer live there. She welcomes me as always. Her home cooked meals always remind me of my childhood and growing up in our home. I am glad I have the mom I do because she always has been able to deal with me in a way I am not so sure anyone else would have been able to. I Love My Mom and Cherish Our Memories!!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Quote~Life
"Life is half spent before we know what it is." This quote by George Herbert, I found to be very meaningful. We go through life daily, doing what we need to do. Sometimes taking those around us for granteed. Than one day you realize half your life is over and you wish you could do it over again.
I would have made better choices. I would have noticed things more. I would have spent more time with those I was "to busy" to see. I realized this quite some time ago when I was going from elementary school, to high school, to graduation, to moving out on my own. Each step I took was ending one part of my life and beginning another.
Before I knew it, my sister was having babies, I moved out and was living with my boyfriend, and my grandparents were too old to take long walks with the entire family like they use to. My oldest niece just started kindergarden. Soon I will be watching her go into high school, graduate, and move out on her own. Wow, life does pass you by quickly, and it's a scary thought.
I would have made better choices. I would have noticed things more. I would have spent more time with those I was "to busy" to see. I realized this quite some time ago when I was going from elementary school, to high school, to graduation, to moving out on my own. Each step I took was ending one part of my life and beginning another.
Before I knew it, my sister was having babies, I moved out and was living with my boyfriend, and my grandparents were too old to take long walks with the entire family like they use to. My oldest niece just started kindergarden. Soon I will be watching her go into high school, graduate, and move out on her own. Wow, life does pass you by quickly, and it's a scary thought.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Education
Wow, who knew, I now know how to blog! Learned something new, again! It was so different in high school for me, because I was so caught up with the drama of girlfriends, boyfriends, where the next party was at, weekend plans, etc. that school and education were just the furthest thing from my mind. Funny how all the drama in school doesn't really matter, but at the time it seemed as if your whole world revolved around the drama. I remember many times in school thinking "Omg why do I have to sit here when I could be shopping or hanging out with my friends. I don't even need to know this stuff.".
I realized real fast that in order to "go shopping" and "hang out with my friends" I needed to have access to money to get there. It sure makes things go alot easier. My car doesn't want to start without gas, and that shirt that I absolutely have to have is not free. Now that I am on my own looking towards the future, thinking about where I want to be and what I want to do, education now seems like one of the most important parts in reaching my goals. I find myself wanting to do good and succeed with my education. Learning has a whole new attitude! :)
I realized real fast that in order to "go shopping" and "hang out with my friends" I needed to have access to money to get there. It sure makes things go alot easier. My car doesn't want to start without gas, and that shirt that I absolutely have to have is not free. Now that I am on my own looking towards the future, thinking about where I want to be and what I want to do, education now seems like one of the most important parts in reaching my goals. I find myself wanting to do good and succeed with my education. Learning has a whole new attitude! :)
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