Unplanned Craziness

Lent has not been easy... and we're only 5 days into it (not counting Sunday).

On Ash Wednesday I was hit with something that had me in bed all day and didn't let me get out of the house until Friday. That means I didn't get ashes... nor did I attend Mass or go to confession. I also hadn't planned on eating chicken on Fridays but my diet is so restricted (I felt terrible on Thursday after unintentionally fasting and getting no protein that day) and I've been sick so I had no choice. I had been looking forward to doing it all "right" but, well, we can't always plan these things to work out in our favor.

From Saturday through Sunday, I traveled. Mom and I went down to San Diego and crossed the border into Tijuana on Saturday. The reason for this was because I had some dental work to be done. We have a family friend who is a dentist and when she heard how much they were charging me (out of pocket) Stateside, she told me to go down and she'd take care of it for me. It turns out I didn't even need one of the root canals the dentists here were pushing... and, really, there was a lot that I thought I needed but didn't actually need. In fact, I didn't even get a single root canal done; she just repaired the chipped molar and did other things that dentists here didn't want to do but were necessary because of how fragile my health has been. (Those were her own words; they were putting me at a greater risk for refusing to fill a big cavity and the chipped molar.) It took us nearly 2 hours just to cross the border (by car) back into the States on Saturday night and then we slept for a couple of hours before we had to get up to get the train back to L.A.

What was supposed to be a day trip turned out to be a 2-day trip because we didn't want to get home after 1 a.m. on Sunday. Two women by themselves, in our part of the county? Um, no, thank you. I'm grateful for Amtrak because I only slept 2 hours on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. Being able to sleep on the train was lovely, even if my neck was hating me at the end of both trips. Also, because of the change of plans, we ended up missing Mass yesterday. We arrived home around 10 a.m. but I crashed after I ate breakfast. I hadn't eaten well on Saturday (and only had about half of the daily recommended water intake) so my body (still recovering from the cold and what hit on Wednesday) needed to crash. Even for evening Mass, I wasn't sure if I would've been okay to drive with my slight lightheadedness and my new toothache (which lasted about 36 hours). I kept drifting in and out of sleep for most of yesterday. I think I may need all of this week for my body and mind to recover. It's an INFP and/or HSP thing, I'm sure.

In between all of that crazy, I failed to pray the Saturday morning prayers in the Little Office and the chaplet of the Divine Mercy before the day ended. I actually fell asleep while praying the last decade of the Rosary on Saturday night. I've also failed to do any of the meditations in my Blessed is She prayer journal... and doing any reading in either Introduction to the Devout Life or Roses Among Thorns, both by St. Francis de Sales.

I've done okay with staying off social media, with the exception being yesterday when I had to log into Facebook to change my password because someone else had logged into it and on Saturday afternoon when I logged into Instagram just to get that location stamp stating that I was at the U.S.-Mexico International Border. I didn't check anything else; I simply changed the password for FB and logged out of Instagram once I had the location stamp on it. I do miss social media, especially Instagram, but I've been able to do a lot without getting lost in the scrolling.

As for giving up talking, it's been hit and miss. I hope that it'll be better now that I'm on Spring Break (early, I know) and the craziness of the trip and having to study for this past weekend's exam (I passed despite only studying for less than a day!) has passed. We do have something special planned this weekend (our young adult group is doing something lovely for Lent) and I know that these people all inspire me to be more mindful of what I say so it'll be good for me.

Do any of you have a hard time getting back on track when your plans get super derailed like mine did over the past couple of days? If so, any tips on what could help get it back on track? I've been struggling with studying (seriously, I had only 1 day to study and memorize for Saturday's exam over the course of 3 weeks due to a number of things that popped up) and now I'm struggling with simply taking some time to pray during the day. Hopefully, I can figure out something during this week of "vacation"... though I don't know how much I'll actually rest because the end of the week is looking crazy busy again. Honestly, sometimes I think God is saying "No, you're still doing too much. Slow down and take care of yourself" when I get this busy.

Anyway, I should get going. I'm still feeling a bit lightheaded (not sure if it's lack of fluids, too much sleep, or an effect from Saturday's dinner when they accidentally added cheese to my plate... after I had explained that I was allergic) and I want to rest for a little while in hopes that I'm well enough to go pick up Mom from work a little later.

I hope y'all are having a good Lent thus far!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

It Was Nice While It Lasted

Today is the last day of my Spring Break because I am going to rededicate myself to my schoolwork tomorrow. I have one paper due tomorrow night and another due on Monday (which I want to finish early). Since my Art Appreciation class ends next Friday (the 10th) I want to study for the final so I finish it earlier. Just a couple more weeks of this... I hope. lol. Don't expect me to write much until probably Sunday. I will keep y'all updated though. :D

I hope everyone is having a good week thus far. And, thank you for the prayers. The temptations keep coming but it's so much easier now; it's no longer a struggle for me. :D



P.S. Has anyone noticed that a majority of us college students didn't have a proper Spring Break this year? Almost everyone I know (who's still in college) is working on at least one paper. It's a conspiracy, I tell you... lol. ;)

Bus Adventures; Midterms; Transfer Decisions; Music Monday.

If there is one thing about taking public transportation, it's that you never know how your trip will go. I have been relying on L.A.'s massive public trans system to get everywhere, for the past week. Dad's out of the country... and he took the car keys so no one would use either of the cars while he's gone. Pfft. Anyway, I've had my fair share of bus adventures... though I don't know if any could top the ones I had on Saturday and today.

On Saturday, we took the bus to Sherman Oaks (where I did some of my growing up) to go shopping for a while. On our way back home, we encountered the rudest bus driver I've ever seen. A mentally disabled man passed by and tapped his card (we use TAP cards when we take multiple buses throughout a period of time) twice (on accident). When he figured it wasn't working, he went back to his seat. The bus driver, who already looked like he was in a bad mood, tried to explain to the man about the card but the man was focusing on getting to his seat so he missed the convo. The bus driver then started calling the man a *bleep*h*le and basically humiliating the poor guy. When the man said he was mentally disabled, the bus driver said "yeah, no kidding!" Completely uncalled for and all. The guy went up to the bus driver and showed his disabled card... but still continued to berate him with a number of profanities. I took the bus driver's number and info, all while the driver glared at me with a menacing look. I don't care how much you try to intimidate me, I'm reporting your butt for being such a punk.

Today's rides were interesting. I had no less than 3 former classmates in the same bus coming home from school. All 3 were guys I went to school with prior to the age of 13 so it was interesting to see them again. They all looked at me like "... do I know you...?" but two of them didn't say anything. Now, I don't know who thinks it's a good idea to divulge so much after not seeing someone for the past 12 years, but it's not a good idea to do so. Asking me for my number, after you tell me (with pride) that you just got out of jail and that you fathered a child at 15, won't get you that number. I don't care if we were in the same 5th grade class, it's just not gonna happen, kid. I've had some interesting experiences with guys on buses but this one takes the cake. Where's my bodyguard when I need him? lol. Oh, and did I mention that prior to all of this, the bus driver to school nearly ran over two elderly men... at two different stops? One of those times, the bus came to a screeching halt and all of us were thrown forward. I'm amazed no one got thrown on the floor or hurt in that. I won't be taking public transportation for the rest of the day. lol.

Something I WILL be doing the rest of the day is studying for my midterms. Well, one of them. I have my Philosophy of Ethics midterm on Wednesday. I don't think we have a midterm for English Lit, but we do have an essay due on Wednesday. My Philosophy of World Religions (one of my favorite courses ever) prof. pushed our midterm until after Spring Break. My Speech prof (whom I'm still fighting with) is unclear about the midterm for us but I am ready to take it whenever he gives it to us. I will definitely be saying a prayer to St. Joseph of Cupertino (patron saint of students and exam takers) just because I want to do really well on my midterms and he's come through for me in the past.

Another thing I have to think about in the next few days, and probably ask St. Thomas Aquinas for his intercession, is making my decision on where I'll transfer to. I didn't tell anyone that I'd applied elsewhere as back up options (because I didn't want to jinx it), but it seems I now have options to go elsewhere. I have the option for two universities in England, apparently there's a loophole for UBC (University of British Columbia) since I'd be transferring so that's an option again, as well as two public universities in L.A. I've already nixed going to UBC, even though living in Vancouver is basically a dream for me. I have friends near both schools in England (one near the English countryside, one up north) so that's appealing. If I were to chose one of the schools in L.A., I'd have to change my major to an English (with an emphasis on Creative Writing) major, Religious Studies minor. Or I could just keep going to Mount St. Mary's College. The only thing about that is that, out of all the options, MSMC is the most expensive. Yes, even more so than the unis in England. I just don't know. I have a lot of thinking to do, and only two weeks to make up my mind. If I decide to go to school in England (which I was originally going to do two years ago, before my father's second battle with cancer kept me here), I'll have a chance to check both of the schools out since I have Spring Break starting mid-next week. Also, I have friends who are basically threatening to kidnap me and take me to London (whoo! lol) so it'll work out. We'll see what happens.

Alright before this turns into a novel, I'll stop... but not before Music Monday's video. This is for all of you who are in the middle of midterms. Listen to Dinah Washington and "Relax Max."

Alright, I need to study. *sigh* Just a few more days until Spring Break. I can do it... I can do it... lol. :D Good luck to everyone who has midterms this week and next!

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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