Concerning My Job

Today I was working on my computer at work, and though I did not feel inspired particularly, decided that it was time to post on my blog again. You may be wondering, "Amanda is at work and has time to post on her blog, how does she manage that?" Thus, I will tell you exactly how I manage it: I am an administrative assistant, I have tasks that I am assigned to do every day, but once I have finished with those, so long as there is not anything additional to assist with, I have free time on my hands. I like to think of my job as being similar to an insurance policy: sometimes it gets used and sometimes it does not, but you want to have it in case you need to use it. At first, it would drive me crazy to have free time on my hands at work, since there was always something to do at my previous jobs, but in the three plus months that I have worked here I have learned to adjust to my down time at work by finding things to keep myself busy. My cubicle stays pretty clean and the storage shelves are relatively organized, all things considered. Though it may sound like a terrible waste of my employer's resources to some, I am at peace with my use of time at my current job since I am accomplishing everything that is expected of me and everyone is content with the quality of work that I am doing. I have received glowing reports on my progress as an employee even.

Although I cannot know for sure yet, since spring has only been giving us peaks of herself so far, I have a suspicion that the most difficult aspect of this job for me is going to be the fact that I work indoors. The other jobs that I have held for any length of time were related to horticulture (well, this job is too, but it is administrative so the link is not as visible), so there was a healthy dose of the outdoors included in my work. I have a feeling that as the weather gets warmer and the sun shows itself more, I will start yearning to spend more time outside and less time inside. At least my job is part time and not strenuous work, two factors which should give me more time to enjoy outside than my previous jobs have allowed.

In other job-related news, J.R. and I are planning on starting a landscape design, installation, consultation, and maintenance business this spring. Landscaping businesses tend to be quite successful in our area, so we are hopeful that ours will be as well. Success should not be a problem considering that we both have horticultural experience, attended Michigan State University, which is one of the top-ranked horticulture colleges in the country, and many people with out horticultural knowledge are able to run lucrative landscaping businesses. Now, I realize that some people are getting concerned probably at the thought of a pregnant lady working in landscaping, but I promise not to do anything that may endanger either my or the baby's safety, and I doubt that J.R. would let me do so anyway. Besides, there is nothing potentially harmful for me when it comes to creating landscape designs or recommendations, so hopefully I will have plenty to keep me busy with those and will be able to help with the less physically-demanding landscaping activities outside sometimes. Additionally, in all likelihood I will still be working part time at my current job until July, so that will be a time-limiting factor when it comes to how much time I have to put into the physically intense jobs that go along with landscaping.

Dante's Inferno Test

I do not believe that I have ever mentioned it on my blog, but I read Dante's Divine Comedy in high school. I went on to take a semester-long course (which became one of my favorites, though I was not a literature major) on the Divine Comedy in college, where I came to appreciate and understand the work much better. Today I took the Dante's Inferno test online, though I recognize that I am not out of the proverbial woods yet when it comes to salvation, it was an amusing test. Additionally, however little the test means in actuality, it is nice to be told that I am headed toward purgatory, since it leads to heaven, which is my prefered way to spend eternity.

My test results:

You are one of the lucky ones! Because of your virtue and beliefs, you have escaped eternal punishment. You are sent to Purgatory!

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Purgatory:
You have escaped damnation and made it to Purgatory, a place where the dew of repentance washes off the stain of sin and girds the spirit with humility. Through contrition, confession, and satisfaction by works of righteousness, you must make your way up the mountain. As the sins are cleansed from your soul, you will be illuminated by the Sun of Divine Grace, and you will join other souls, smiling and happy, upon the summit of this mountain. Before long you will know the joys of Paradise as you ascend to the ethereal realm of Heaven.


The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Very Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Low
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

On the Ultrasound

This week marks the half-way point of my pregnancy: I have reached the twentieth week. I managed to survive the ultrasound this past Wednesday, and am happy to report that it was not bad at all. Yes, it was a little uncomfortable to drink that much water at once, but it is nothing that cannot be survived (as my predecessors had proven already). We also came through not knowing the gender of our baby, so that surprise remains (happily) and JR and I will have to continue working on coming up with names for both a boy and a girl. Our baby came through the ultrasound brilliantly as well, measuring up with healthy levels of everything that was taken into consideration and falling exactly in the middle on the developmental charts for other babies at twenty weeks gestation. The later is a fact that I am glad about particularly, since I would like to have an average-sized baby, rather than an extremely small or extremely large baby. I know that JR enjoyed being present at the ultrasound, as he expressed disappointment when I told him that in all likelihood it would be the only ultrasound of the pregnancy.

I have been noticing the baby moving for several weeks now, but this week is noteworthy in the department of baby movement for two reasons: 1. The baby has been moving considerably more this week; and 2. If I place my hand on my tummy I can feel said movement. JR has not felt the baby move yet, however; hopefully he will be able to do so soon.

Disney Movies and Literary Works in General

I was on Facebook recently and noticed a group titled, "Disney Gave Me Unrealistic Expectations About Love." Following are several of the reasons given by the group for why this statement is true: "For the young of heart who believe that: Swapping your voice and family for a pair of legs is a good deal; Love transforms haughty beasts into Princes; Pretty girls fall for hunchbacks; Kissing a sleeping Princess with 100 years of morning breath is pleasant; And that falling in love with an explorer does not risk a nasty smallpox infection."

You're probably wondering why I have chosen to blog about this topic. I am not blogging about whether Disney movies are great works (that would be a mere opinion, and not nearly so blog-worthy), but moreso about how there are deeper meanings to be found in literary works (and movies) than what can be taken from face value alone. My reasons for discussing this in relation to Disney movies: 1. Most people are familiar with these works; 2. I stumbled across the group mentioned in the first paragraph recently, so any thoughts are still fresh in my mind; 3. I have spoken to others a little on this topic in relation to Disney movies in the past.

Honestly though, has society fallen so far that nobody can see the great lessons about love that these "uncomfortable" aforementioned truths teach? Doesn't the fact that Ariel gave up her family and life as she knew it prove her devotion to Eric and that true love transforms us? Wouldn't a pretty girl, especially if she recognized the beauty of another's soul, embrace a hunchback, or someone of any physical flaw for that matter? And doesn't a true lover love his beloved regardless of any disease or harm that may come to his own body? Aren't we supposed to be willing to lay down our own life for those we love? Wow, could it be that literature is capable of leading a person to learn or better understand Christian and other moral principles?

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite tales that has been done by Disney, since it tells such a beautiful story: A selfish, prideful prince is turned into a "beast," indicative of the state of his soul. Along comes Belle, who learns to love the beast despite his appearance and how terribly he treats her (and everyone else). Since Belle showed love to the beast (not entirely different from the way that Christ loves us and gave Himself for us despite our own sins), the beast was transformed, just as man is transformed by God's sanctifying grace, made available to us through Christ's sacrifice of Himself. Could it not be that, whether Disney intends it or not, the authors intended to show, on some level, the "romance" between the soul and Christ, which is most easily understood by many through the scenario of a romance between a man and a woman?

As with Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella is a tale linked to Christian principles: she is treated terribly by her step-mother and step-sisters, but bears her sufferings patiently and is rewarded when her groom takes her away to live the life of a princess (applied loosely, Cinderella = us, Prince = Christ). The good Christian often suffers much in this life, but the reward is great in heaven. After all, Ephesians 5 compares the relationship of husband and wife to that of Christ and the Church, so it is not such a stretch to think that other authors would do something similar using allegory to make their points?

In short, why does it matter that the scenarios of Disney movies, literary works, and the like rarely play out in real life as they do in fiction? There is a much deeper meaning to be gleaned that is missed entirely if you take a work at face-value only.

Pregnancy Update

I think that it is safe to say that I am over the nausea and morning sickness that go along with pregnancy officially (and have been for several weeks). I have been feeling normal, even great (other than my cold) for the past few weeks. I have even reached a point where my stomach is no longer very picky and I do not have to worry about eating at the first hint of hunger in order to avoid feeling nauseated. All things considered, I am pleased with the state of my body at the current time (I am in the nineteenth week of my pregnancy, we'll see how much longer I feel this way for).

In other news, next week is my ultrasound. Drinking and then retaining that much liquid for a couple of hours seems a semi-daunting task, but I am sure that I can handle it, every other pregnant woman seems able to do so. My larger fear is that the ultrasound technician will tell us the gender of the baby accidentally (I have heard of it happening). At any rate, I am sure that it will prove to be an interesting experience, and though I have a couple of concerns, I am not really worried about it.

A (somewhat) disappointing first St. Valentine's Day

Yesterday was J.R.'s and my first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. With our congested, aching bodies and overall lack of energy due to the colds that we have been battling, it is safe to say that our first Valentine's Day did not turn out anywhere near as enjoyable or romantic as we would have imagined it to be. J.R. and I went grocery shopping on Monday out of necessity and J.R. had me pick out my own flowers as a valentine gift. I, the practical horticulturalist that I am, chose a bouquet of carnations (which J.R. selected), not because I like them better than roses, but for the several advantages that they have over roses: they tend to look better and hold up longer than roses, and they are a more economical buy since one can get twenty to thirty carnations for about the same cost of two or three roses. I am not saying that the carnation/rose substitution should be applied to every woman on Valentine's Day (as I pointed out to one of my brothers), but it works for me since I enjoy flowers in general and do not worry about what species of flower I receive (every flower is beautiful in its own way and it is the thought that really counts). Not to let tradition fall away, however, J.R. surprised me with a single red rose first thing yesterday morning, in honor of our first Valentine's Day as a married couple.

All in all, I would say that the only reason why I can say that our first Valentine's Day was 'disappointing' is because J.R. and I were not feeling well, which put a damper on us really enjoying spending time together. The important thing is that we were together and showed our love for one another in simple ways yesterday. I see St. Valentine's Day as being about reminding all those whom you care about that you care about them, and not so much about lavishing gifts upon a significant other or making extravagant plans with them; however enjoyable the latter may be.

Winter Break, 2007

J.R. and I returned from our over a week-long trip to Florida last
Wednesday. This post has been delayed because I have been either
working or feeling under the weather, due to a terrible cold, since our
return. We had a lovely vacation. Apparently the timing of our vacation
could not have been better for getting out of Michigan's single-digit
days that we 'missed out' on. The weather in Florida treated us fairly
well, we spent the majority of our vacation enjoying 70+ degree
weather, though there were some days when it rained a bit and only
reached the mid-60s and we were spared by the now-famous tornadoes that
ran through Florida during our visit there. While J.R. has been to
Florida more times than he can recall accurately, this was my first
visit there as well as my first glimpse of an ocean. We spent several
days at Disney, visitedSanibel Island, and pattered around other
popular tourist attractions (my two favorite of which were A World of
Orchids, and the Medieval Times dinner theater); my only regret is that
our vacation could not have been longer so that we could have done
several other highly desirable activities while we were in Florida.

An update on my pregnancy: I am now in the second trimester (hurray!) The
nausea and morning sickness have been steadily decreasing and are
absent often; hopefully they will disappear completely soon. J.R. and I
bought the first gift for our baby on our vacation as well: a very
soft, Winnie the Pooh stuffed bear. Time will prove how practical of a
gift Pooh will be, but I played with and kept near to me (and still
have to this day) the teddy bear that my own mother bought for me
before I was born. Since most children keep a special stuffed animal
near to them when they are young, I expect that my own will be no
different most likely.