Adulthood is overrated, I wanna be a kid again

I feel like coming into adulthood was something I'd always wanted. You always want to be grown up when you're a kid. You want to drive and then you just want to be away from home. Now I know what my mother was talking about when she said that life goes by so fast. I still feel like I'm a kid, especially when I go home to see my parents. But I'm not a kid anymore, at least not by societies standards.

I want to go back to the simpler times. I remember when we lived on our farm, I would sit outside on the front porch and I would write. I would write down anything and everything I was thinking. Stories, poems, journal entries. And then I would look around and say that it wasn't going to get any better than this. I miss those times. I crave simplicity.

I no longer want to call myself an adult. I want to go back in time. I want to be back on that front porch with my sunset and my notebook and just breathe it all in one more time. I don't think that I will ever feel that kind of peace again. I think that it has come and gone. If I do experience it again, it won't be for a very long time. And when I do experience it again, I'll remember that porch and my sunset and I'll remember that this is what life should be like. I just want to go back. I want the simple life.

Life please stop with your lessons

Sitting at work, doing paper work and working on the computer. All the sudden darkness. I mean complete and total darkness. I couldn't see five inches in front of my face darkness. We had a power outage at work the other night and we were supposed to have a generator that kicks on, but it malfunctioned somehow. This left us in the dark (and cold) for 45 minutes. It was scary and frustrating, especially because no one could tell me what to do to fix it.

I swear, I'm constantly being tested as a supervisor. The good thing is, that I handle it well. I know how to direct people and take care of things in an emergency. Hopefully other people see that as well.

I'm enjoying my new job. I'm not used to the full time hours yet, but it's nice to have something to do (especially now that I'm graduated.) I officially graduated this past Saturday. I was really excited about that. It was a surreal moment walking across that stage. It was the one and only time I got to meet/see the president of Minnesota State University-Mankato. (Now that's saying something.) I also got to go to Red Lobster. My mom took the family out for dinner to celebrate. It was awesomely delicious.

Everyone at my job is asking me when I'm quitting there to start my career. I keep telling them that I'm not quitting there and that I'm sticking around for awhile. No one believes me either when I tell them that. I guess after I stay for awhile they'll stop asking me. With the economy the way it is, I'll take what I can get and I love this job, so I'll stick with it until I don't love it anymore.

Graduating, New Job, New Chapter

I graduate next Saturday with my bachelor's degree in Public Relations. I'm pretty excited. (I'm not excited that the ceremony is at 9 am.) My family will be here on Friday and staying through Sunday. I'm also excited that I just started my supervisor's job at the Harry Meyering Center. So far the job tasks added aren't too much, but I can see if I don't attend to them that they're going to pile up and then that's going to make it rough.

I didn't think that I would be saying with HMC after I graduated, but with the economy the way that it is, I can't really find anything in the field that I'm graduating in. Seriously, I looked. All the entry level positions are going to people that did have a job and then were let go. They get hired over me because they have the experience and they are willing to take the pay cut just so that they have a job.

I'm sticking with HMC for three reasons, number 1 it's a job and one that I love doing. Number 2, I love my co-workers, they are awesome to work with and finally number 3, I get health insurance. Isn't that sad? I'm excited that I'll have health insurance. Now I definitely feel like an adult. For now, I'm content and that's all I can really ask for. To me contentment is happiness, in a simpler form and I'll take simple any day of the week.

Vehicles are not my favorite

My car broke down last night. The left tie rod busted right off my car. It was the scariest thing. I pulled into the parking lot at my work place and all of the sudden I heard a loud pop. I got out of the car and saw clearly that something was busted off the left tire. Luckily I was able to slowly back it into a parking place in the lot so it wasn't sitting right in the middle. I had it towed this morning and apparently it's going to cost about $200 to fix it.

The problem is, I don't have $200. Good thing I just got a promotion at work. I was just hired as the Assistant Night Supervisor at my job. I am really excited and nervous about this at the same time. I hope that I am able to do a good job. Hopefully this means I'll be able to build a lasting career, but who knows, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Anyway, I'm glad that it won't cost too much for my car, but I'm not being too optimistic till I pick it up tomorrow.

Yes...I love Twilight.

I am making the full hearted comfession here on this blog, I love Twilight. I went to the midnight release of Twilight last night and then again today (probably even tomorrow) and it was amazing. While it wasn't completely like the book (to be expected) it still held pretty true to what the book represented and was all about. If you haven't read the Twilight series, I highly recommend it. It's an amazing book series. I think it's just the way that Stephenie Meyer writes. She is an amazing writer and she hit on a crucial idea that I think a lot of teenage/adult women like....vampires and humans falling in love with them.

I am going to see Twilight tomorrow and probably half a dozen more times....it should come out on DVD soon..that would be amazing. I promise you my geekdom will now be hidden.

Winter Blues

Winter blues are upon me, time for a change of pace.

I wish I lived closer to the cities..

Because then I would join in the protest against Prop 8. Even though I do not identify myself as a lesbian, I still believe that everyone should have equal rights. The fact that California (of all states) legalized a ban against gay marriage is a slap in the face to me. I am a feminist and wish for nothing more than equal rights. While the feminist movement and the gay rights movement are different we share the same struggles.

If we are going to take this right away from other people then why don't we just go back to segregation. I don't understand how people can justify it. It wasn't so long ago in our history when we thought that it was okay to own slaves. We thought of people with different colored skin were animals and didn't deserve rights.

I think that all people should have equal rights. We need to see what this does to our so called freedom proclamation. Is that so hard to see? We preach land of the free and yet we deny that right to so many people. It hurts, simply, it just hurts.

Too much at once

I had three major projects that all the sudden just snuck up on me. How did that happen? I thought that I had everything in check. Luckily, I have one of the nicest bosses in the world and she let me leave early on Saturday morning so that I could get some sleep and then get up earlier to finish one such project. I finished a 6 page paper on Mrs. Dalloway. One of my favorite books. I definitely recommend that everyone read it before they die. There are so many discussion points that you can get into. This book not only made me think about class and sexism, but how society reinforces masculinity and femininity.

One of my other pieces of homework was to read a 36 page case study about three women that faced sexual harassment while working in group home for the intellectually disabled. Now I only have to find ten resources to help me write a case analysis. I have never written one of these, so if anyone can give me some advice I'm ready to hear it. This next week is going to kick my butt (so to speak). I won't be getting any sleep and I will definitely be happy when it is Wednesday night.

Obama Wins!

I cried last night while I watched Barack Obama take the stage in front of a crowd of 100,000 people. I watched every moment of the results coming in last night with three of my closest friends. When Obama took Ohio we all but did a victory dance. It was like we somehow knew that by him getting that state we now had a shot. But the most anticipated moment came when the polls closed on the west coast, so 10pm here. As soon as it hit 10 pm we watched the west coast light up blue and MSNBC called the election.

Even though they had called it, my friends and I waited till McCain took the stage to concede. Then and only then we were on our feet dancing and cheering. I am so proud of this country for voting for change and for giving Barack Obama the 44th slot as a president of the United States.

Christmas in August next year..I think.

I was at Target some last minute Halloween shopping and I was appalled to see that they were already putting out Christmas stuff. The wrapping paper, the stockings, they even had the Christmassy scents floating in the air. I was then at Walmart the day after Halloween and they were also putting out Christmas displays, they even have their big Christmas tree out in front already. They were also playing Christmas music. Seriously, I would expect this closer to Thanksgiving, but not now.

It get earlier and earlier every year. What's up with that? I don't get it. I usually do my Christmas shopping like two weeks before Christmas, a month earlier at that earliest. No wonder people get so crabby around this time of year, it's because they keep shoving Christmas closer and closer in our noses every year. I think next year we should just start preparing in August. I mean it. Lets bust out the trees, the music, the lights. I think the day that happens is the day we should all just sleep for those three months until Christmas has come and gone. Then they'll be no reason for bah-humbugging.

The Hunger Games

I just recently finished a book called "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. It was so thought provoking I don't know where to start. Here is the plot line of the book:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

This is the best book I've read since I've finished the Twilight series. What's funny is this book was actually recommended by Twilight's author Stephenie Meyer. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be put in an arena and told that you have to kill all the other people in the arena in order to survive. If you like futuristic books I highly suggest that you read this book.

I think that it really give you a glimpse into what it is like to live in a dictatorship. Knowing that one false move and you're at the mercy of your countries political system. I've been thinking about this book for the last two days. I'm hoping there's a sequel to it as well because the ending does leave you hanging. I am a huge fan of reading so when I find a book I like I definitely like to pass it on and I wanted to pass this one on for sure.

IMDB not a political tool

I am all for discussing politics. I talk about them all the time. Lately some of my friends have been timing me to see how long it will take for me to bring up politics. I do not however want to see politics on a discussion board when I'm searching for a movie on IMDB.com. I use IMDB all the time. (If you don't know what IMDB stands for it's Internet Movie Database.) I like going on there to get the updates about movies I've been wanting to see. I also rate the movies I have seen.

I was on IMDB tonight looking up updates for the movie Twilight. I've been anticipating this movie for awhile and I go on there occasionally to see what everyone is talking about. One of the discussion topics was "how can you vote for Obama?" I rolled my eyes, commented that this was a Twilight discussion board and told the author of the comment to get a life and post this somewhere most useful.

Is there no where that I can go to escape the political discussion? I watch MSNBC for a reason. I think there needs to be a limit as to where people can post about politics. Blogger.com is okay, a Twilight discussion board come on..seriously.

I know I've said this before but I can't wait till November 4th.

We're way behind

Most Americans have the perception that we are #1 and that we are always on top of things. Sadly I say, this is false. After watching a video (supplied by one of my professors) on YouTube my already known thoughts were confirmed. We are way behind the rest of the world. I can't believe that 100% of college graduates in India speak English, but we don't require our college graduates to learn another language.

I feel like I live in the land of the lazy, not the land of opportunity. Sure we have opportunity here, but with today's market we are seeing that opportunity shipped overseas. The other statistic that opened my eyes was that we'll have between 10-14 jobs by the time we're 38. I don't know about the rest of you but I don't want that many jobs. Actually I would just like nice cushy career, where do you sign up for that?

Somethings got to change. We have to stop being so lazy. We have to start caring. I don't know how to even make that possible, but we have to start somewhere, right?

Debate?

I felt that Wednesday nights debate was a little off kilter. We all expected the same old song and dance, and in some ways we go it, but where did John McCain come from. Even though I felt that Barack Obama won the debate, I was surprised to see that much vigor from McCain. (I guess that was the temper that everyone has been talking about.) There were a couple of things that made me a bit concerned. One was the fact that Obama explained himself, I believe clearly enough, when it came to his relationship with Bill Ayers. McCain on the other hand still seemed to try and twist his words and try to make it look another way. (That's politics though, I guess.)

The second thing that I thought was a little a little concerning was the fact that McCain debated the "health" of the mother as to whether or not we should make abortion completely illegal. I don't like it when male politicians debate this topic anyway, but that statement from McCain infuriated me. I like the way that Obama put it as in no one is really pro-abortion, they just don't want to take that decision away from another woman. I couldn't agree more.

I am pro-choice as they put it in this country. I am however not pro-abortion. I don't like killing babies. I just don't think that it would be a good idea to take that choice away from another woman. My final point for that discussion is if they're going to legislate women's organs and body parts, then they better start legislating men's organs and body parts as well. (I've said my peace.)

On my final note, I liked last nights debate, but I can't wait till the election is over.

Women and Football

I find that when men find out that I am a Packers fan (and a hardcore one at that) that they somehow think that I know nothing about the sport. This would be anything but the case. I know about football, I've watched and followed the Green Bay Packers faithfully since the fourth grade. Why is it so hard to think that woman can like football?

Is it Novemeber 4th already?

I understand the need to advertisements for politicians, but I'm already sick of the slanderous ads. You never know what to believe. Even though I know who I am going to vote for already, I just wish we could tell when a politician is telling the truth and when they are lying. I don't like the ads where people are portrayed as the original anything. Aren't we all original by definition? It seems like one candidate comes out with an ad and then the other candidate has to counter the previous ad with one of their own.

You don't know who to believe after awhile. I am a liberal American, but I know when to say enough. I say enough with the ads. If the voters who were undecided actually cared about politics they would take the time to get to know each candidate stance on the issues. They would intelligently pay attention to their ads that just bash each other on one thing or another. Though I have to say the McCain ads have been attacking Obama more on character than on policy. I like that Obama is attacking McCain on his decisions not because of who he is as a person.

I don't know what these next few months are going to be like, but I can say without a certainty that I will be flipping the station no matter what parties political ad is on the TV. I'm hoping that we elect someone that will actually change the policies and not keep them the way that they are. I can say without certainty as well, that I don't believe this is going to happen unless we elect Obama/Biden into the White House. That's just how I believe. I've looked at both candidates, I've seen what each stands for and Obama makes me hopeful. He makes me believe in politics again. If a candidate can do that for me, I would think he could do that for anyone.

Politics

Politics are a passion of mine. I often find myself watching both parties to be able to see what each side has to offer. I have to say though, that the Obama/Biden ticket follows closest to my heart. I have been a liberal for a long time. Though I still listen to both parties, I find myself wanting passionately to vote for Obama.

I have watched Obama since the 2004 DNC and I have been inspired by him ever since. When I heard that he was running for the presidency on the Democratic ticket for 2008 I had a hard time listening to the other side. I have to admit that I have voted Democratic in the past, but Obama makes me hopeful. He makes me feel inspired about politics again. I haven't felt this way in a long time and I don't really want to lose it. Obama makes me want to vote for him. I feel like I'm voting for him because he believes in what I believe in.

I haven't been this passionate in politics in a long time. Granted I've only be able to vote for the last two elections but still. I find myself wanting to vote rather than feeling like it's my civic duty. I am happy to participate in this years election. I only hope that he ticket that I'm voting for will actually win. Otherwise I fear I lose my hope in the system that this country holds itself to so dear.

About Me

My name is Amanda Wilcox. I am a senior at the University of Minnesota-Mankato majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Women's Studies. I currently work part-time overnights as a direct support professional with the Harry Meyering Center here in Mankato. Basically I work to try and help adults with developmental disabilities live as independently as possible.

When I graduate in December I want to work in the non-profit sector of Public Relations. Ideally dealing with either women's issues or health care. I am excited to graduate and am looking forward to starting an actual career.