A Little Christian Humor

So... I am Catholic...

I am a Catholic who goes to church on holidays and doesn't eat meat on Fridays during lent

(So, obviously, a good Catholic :-P)

I have been baptized

Had my first communion

Was confirmed

Was married in the Catholic Church

and Plan to have my children baptized Catholic

Having faith, growing up, really helped me get through my youth 

and, I believe, it gave me a solid moral, social and ethical foundation to become the woman I am today

Anyway...

{enough justifying}

The last two years, I have had a hard time finding something to "give up" for Lent.

I don't eat meat on Friday's and that is really all that I can think of that would be a true sacrifice for me

Lent this year came and I was racking my brain about what to "give up"

So I decided that I would do something a little unconventional and (in my mind) more productive

I decided to read the Bible

article

I know, I know!

I am sure you are all thinking that I bit off more than I can chew...

...And I probably did...

My original goal was to have it finished by Easter

Then I realized what that actually meant and I, sadly, don't have the time to do that

So, I am reading at least 2 chapters a day, doing my best to read more than that

I have made it through Genesis and I am 1/2 way through Exodus
It is really interesting.

I chose to take this on because I came to the realization that I say I am Catholic, yet I have never read the Bible.
Sure, I have read stories and excerpts, but not the whole thing.
As I read, I am finding that I actually have read (or heard in church) a lot of the scripture, which is nice
And it is nice to be able to put it all together and read each verse in the context of the others

I stumbled upon the above "list of Reasons why God didn't get his PhD" and I had to laugh because it is referring a lot to the Old Testament, which is what I am reading, right now!

I am doing this so I can learn,
maybe uncover a hidden meaning I hadn't noticed before,
find my faith,
educate myself
learn about myself and my faith

It is very humbling.

Are you working on something that you feel will better yourself but haven't shared?
Do share!

Changing Your Name After You Get Married

So, after you get married - if you decide to change your last name - there is a lot of work to do!

Pretty much before we got married, I changed my email address
Merging all of my accounts (google docs, calendar, blogger) was quite a process, but I got it done!

Rich and I went on our honeymoon, and I hadn't changed my name yet, because I was worried we wouldn't get all of the appropriate documents in time for travel which would make everything very difficult!

The day after we got back, we headed over to the Social Security Office and we were in and out of there in 15 minutes flat! 

It was amazing! 

 So, we got excited and went to the DMV right after that...

...We weren't as lucky...

I had to take a new picture and was worried I was going to have to retake the driving test, so I was frantically studying (fortunately, I didn't have to retake the test!)

We were in and out of the DMV, without an appointment, in maybe and hour and a half

No big deal...

Actually, pretty good for not having an appointment!

I had to wait to get my drivers license in the mail to change any and all of my banking info.

That wasn't too bad, pretty easy actually!

The wait was the hard part!

While I waited for my Drivers License, I had to change my information on my health insurance...

Fortunately, that didn't give me much of a head ache!

After I changed my bank info, I moved on to changing my credit cards...

...not that was a hassle!

You can't just change your name over the phone, you have to fax a copy of your marriage licence...

I am not a big fan of faxing, because, well, I don't have a fax machine, only at work.

Once I got the credit cards figured out, I took a long break!

I wasn't really feeling like there was urgency to changing anything else.

A few months later, so almost 7 months after I got married, I finally took the plunge and got a new passport.

That was so sad because my old passport had all of my stamps from our honeymoon!

Luckily, they send back the old passport with a punch in it, so I can keep it for a memory, but it won't have the stamped on for future travel

(p.s. did you know that you aren't supposed to smile in your passport photo because of new face recognition software?! Crazy! I don't normally not smile in photos, so that was weird!)

At this point, I thought I was done!

We even celebrated!

:-)

Ok, maybe not really, but I did in my head!

I was done!

Officially Married with a New Name!

Wrong...

The worst of it all...

Changing your name for airline accounts

and hotel accounts...

What a freaking mess!

Who knew it would be so hard?!

Well, it is/was!

I had no idea!

They are sticklers about name changes!

So, now...

I have:

United Miles

Southwest Miles

Virgin America Miles

American Miles

an SPG account

They all require a copy of the marriage license and most of them also require a copy of your new drivers license...
What?!

I guess I can understand because the miles (basically) equate to money, so they want to be careful...

I just feel that if you can give them your social, your mother's maiden name, the name of your first pet, the city in which you were born and your dream name of your first born they would change the info for you...

Seriously?!

Luckily, as of now, I am just waiting on one more airline and SPG to process my name change

Phew!

Am I missing anything else?!

Can any one think of an account or something else that I may be missing?

Was this helpful for any one else?!

I wish I had dome some more research on how to make this whole process a little more streamlined!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 28

Me: Do you have any one in mind who may enjoy a free trial of our newspaper?

Customer: What do I get out of it?

Me: You get to spread the great word of our paper?

Customer: Well if there was some incentive for me, then I have someone, if there isn't then I don't.

Me: Ok, well there isn't, so have a nice day!

What a butt head!

Ha! 

A Day in the Life: Education Services Day 1

So, Today, is my first day in my new position.

After one week of training, I am all settled in my new job, which is a great way to end the week!

So I am going to start a new "A Day in the Life" Series. 

I will still be taking customer service calls, so those will continue to come...Don't worry :-) 

So I had my first real Education Services (eServ for short) and the gentleman wanted to talk to my supervisor about my outstanding service!

Score!

Happy Thursday to me, and all of you, of course! 

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 27

I have been getting nice customers recently!

It's such a breath of fresh air!

This customer called to let us know that his paper was still going to his vacation address and wasn't converted over to his permanent home.

I apologized for the inconvenience and then he asked me what his subscription expiration date was.

I misspoke and apologized again.

Customer: "Stop apologizing! This is why we use pencils with erasers! And, a beautiful woman should never apologize"

Me: "Thank you, sir"

---

I found this to be so profound!

He really put things into perspective for me.

There is no need to apologize, this is why we use pencils and have erasers.

Things happen, mistakes happen, no one is perfect

We have to allow ourselves the chance to make mistakes, learn from them, move on

Not necessarily to erase the mistakes, but to learn from them.

Write them in pencil, not in pen.

Mistakes don't define the type of person you are.

Forgive yourself and as pencil fades on a paper, mistakes will fade

I wish everyone a Happy Happy Tuesday!

Helicopters, LAPD & a Scared Gal!

Alright...So I live in LA. 

I know that it isn't the safest place in the world...

It's, actually, probably higher on the "Not Safe" list than the "Safe" list!

We have been receiving emails from our apartment complex letting us know that there has been a lot of theft in our community and to be aware of our surroundings and make sure that we lock our doors and windows and don't "entice" potential intruders.

Rich and I are very safe. 

We keep everything locked and the blinds drawn when we are not at home.

We don't keep our valuables in plain site and we keep our garage locked.

On Tuesday night we were sitting at home watching Cheers after dinner and we heard very loud noises outside.

We looked outside and saw LAPD helicopters flying overhead.

We normally don't think much of it because we live right next to the 405 freeway (the most used freeway in the US - if I'm not mistaken)

So, we looked outside and saw the helicopter and it was basically right over our complex! 

It was flying around with its spot light and, fortunately, we concluded that it was down the street and was not in our complex.

Last night was the scary part!

We, again, were sitting on the couch watching Cheers after dinner when we heard the helicopter again.

We thought it was odd that this was two nights in a row, now.

We looked out the window and saw that the helicopter was circling right above our building.

The spotlight was shining in the courtyard of our apartment and on multiple occasions directly into our apartment.

So, Rich decided to go "check it out" and left me alone in the house...

I could have crawled into the closet and cried! ha! I am such a baby!

He came back a few minutes later saying that he had been in the parking lot out front and the helicopter was circling and it shined its spotlight on him! Obviously, he wasn't the one they were looking for and so they moved on! Scary!

He got back inside and we turned off all of the lights and just looked out the window.

All of a sudden we saw like 6 police officers running through a complex and the helicopter was lighting their way!

We both ended up going out into the hallway to look out the window to the back, where all of our garages are, to see if we could see any action, while staying out of the way!

Fortunately, we didn't see anything crazy and pretty much everything had died down by that point - i.e. the action had moved along and passed our apartment.

Needless to say, I was scared!

I don't think I have ever felt threatened like this, in my home, before.

And let me tell you, it was not a good feeling!

The rest of the night was spent "training" me on survival tactics and how to protect myself

It was more of a refresher, since we had a "session" when we first moved in together!

The Hidden Benefit of Exercise

As I have shared before, we get a monthly lifestyle email at work.

I thought this one was, also, share-worthy!

Happy Hump Day, Wednesday!

Exercise to Detoxify

We all know that exercise has many benefits…..it helps us maintain a healthy weight, tones our muscles, increases our circulation and breathing, and increases the strength of our heart. But there is another important, hidden benefit of exercising. It helps to detoxify the body. Our bodies naturally detoxify every day. Detoxification, which is cleaning of the blood and the internal organs, is a normal body process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins in the body. It does this mainly by removing impurities from the blood in the liver, where toxins are processed for elimination. The body also eliminates toxins through the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph and skin. Just as our hearts beat nonstop and our lungs breathe continuously, our metabolic processes continuously dispose of accumulated toxic matter.

How Exercise Detoxifies the Body

The body is engineered to heal itself and get rid of toxins. With exercise, you clean all of your internal organs at the same time. Exercise helps the body’s organs of elimination to function optimally simply by getting them stimulated. Exercise increases the circulation of your body fluids, the blood and lymph. The blood and lymphatic fluids distribute essential nutrients to the cells and remove metabolic waste and other toxic substances from the cells.

Exercise Burns Fat

When we exercise, the body burns fat and reduces our subcutaneous fatty tissue. When toxins build up in the body, they get stored in our body tissue, specifically in our body fat. Aerobic exercise burns the fat and tissue containing toxins and releases the toxins into the body to be eliminated through the cleansing organs. Once these toxins are released into the blood stream, it's the job of the lymphatic system to remove them.

Exercise Improves the Function of the Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system is part of the immune system responsible for transporting white blood cells and other immune cells in and out of the bloodstream, as well as transporting bacteria to the lymph nodes to be destroyed. Exercise improves the function of the lymphatic system by helping it move lymph fluid through the vessels in the body. Unlike blood circulation which is powered by the heart, the lymphatic system has no pump to help the lymph fluid circulate through the body. It relies solely on the body’s movements for circulation. During resistance training, or strength training exercises, your breathing rate increases along with the rate of contraction in your skeletal muscles. The increased breathing and skeletal contractions cause your muscles to push or pull against a force which results in your muscles pushing fluid from your tissues, thus increasing the flow of lymph fluid throughout your body.

Exercises That Enhance Detoxification and Stimulate the Lymphatic System

Any type of aerobic exercise that gets your whole body moving, increases your heart rate and gets your body fluids circulating will benefit you, along with some stretching exercises:

 ·        Walking

·        Jogging

·        Swimming

·        Bicycling

·        Dancing

·        Jumping Rope*

·        Rebounding* (Bouncing on a trampoline, it’s less strenuous on the joints)

·        Strength Training (lifting light weights)

·        Resistance Training (exercising in a pool, using the water as resistance)

·        Yoga (massages the internal organs)

*These exercises are great for lymph flow.

Give Your Body a Boost and Renew

Exercise is an effective way to help your body detoxify and it should become a regular part of your life. If you are feeling tired and sluggish, engage in some regular exercise. Increased respiration and circulation support and help the body’s detoxification process. Practice deep abdominal breathing while exercising to help stimulate your lymphatic system. Remember to drink lots of water, as the combination of good hydration and exercise helps to flush your system of toxins.

If you currently do not exercise, you should consult your physician before you begin any type of exercise routine or program. Always start out slowly when beginning an exercise routine.  Your strength and endurance will build up over time if you stay on a regular and consistent schedule.

Sources:

Linda Rector-Page, N.D. Ph.D.; Author, Healthy Healing: An Alternative Healing Reference

© 1998-2012 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER):  Lymphatic System

www.mayoclinic.com

Copyright © 2012 Demand Media | LIVESTRONG.COM:  Does Physical Exercise Cleanse Your Body?

www.the-natural-path.com:  Benefit of Exercise

Copyright © 2006 Lymphatic Research Foundation, Inc:  Importance of the Lymphatic System

Happy March!

Happy March!

May your month be full of luck and beer!