that changed quick

as of monday afternoon i was all set to start working for comcast...to enjoy free deluxe cable...and drive to everett for work everyday. i spent the morning filling out the last bit of paperwork and going to a local clinic for a drug screening (yep...peeing in a cup!). shortly after my comcastic morning, i got a call from the recruiter/hiring manager dude from wamu/chase. i thought this was some sort of "sorry you weren't chosen" phone call formality because on friday i got an email saying the position i had applied for had been filled. turns it i was the one filling the position, only i didn't know it yet. so at this point i had an offer from comcast and wamu/chase on the table and had to pick which one i was actually going to work for.

wamu/chase won...and it really wasn't even that close for comcast. w/c is paying better, is easier to get to (bus vs. driving), is DOWNTOWN!, and consistently regular hours. at the bank i know its 9-6, M-F...whereas comcast could've been anywhere from a 6am start, to my shift ending at 2am. without a regular 9-5 on the table...i couldn't turn it down simply because i might not have "normal" working hours. i start march 9th, and find it quite hilarious that i'm going back to a branch...and going back to wamu. after being laid off by wells, i said i was done with banking and would never work in a branch again...my how times change. i guess that's what five months of unemployment will do to you. i am excited to be back in the branch tho...i did really enjoy it...i just didn't think i would be back. i'll be at the pacific place branch...right across from nordstrom on 6th avenue. so if you're ever downtown...come say hi.

on a different note...

today is ash wednesday. the start of lent. i've decided to give up three things in hopes that the next 40 days will serve as a starting point to give them up for good...or at least start limiting how frequently i consume there three things. i'm giving up pop and/or carbonated beverages for lent and hopefully for good. realistically i'll probably still have the occasional mt. dew or jack & coke here and there, but for the most part i'm hoping to do away with pop for good. secondly, and somewhat in connection with the first, i'm giving up fast food for lent...and hopefully for good. eh. we'll see. taco bell is right across the street. for lent tho, its out. and my definition of fast food is probably kind of uniquely mine...but then again i am the one giving it up. so for me, fast food is anything with a drive-thru or anything that you can't reasonably call a restaurant...and yet already there are exceptions. subway is ok, so is teriyaki & thai. i think taco del mar is out too, along with quiznos & red mill. and third, no beer. i was gonna say no booze, but by giving up beer and pop that eliminates most of the alcoholic choices i prefer. this way i can also still celebrate a little at our house warming/matty finally got a job party.

so the first two i'm hoping to continue after lent, and with the beer i'm just going to drink it less often. i've already started doing that. only having one beer instead of two or three. its a win-win because it saves me money and hopefully helps shed a few pounds. that's the real point behind the things i'm giving up. i think those three things are contributing the most, at least food and beverage-wise, to my "unsatisfactory weight." haha...we'll call it my "uw." in addition i need to start eating better (on top of giving up fast food), exercising more and getting better sleep...aka keeping a regular sleep schedule and going to bed sooner. by having a job again, getting to sleep sooner and keeping a regular sleep schedule will be easier because i'll have to be getting up in the mornings instead of just sleeping until whenever...and as a result getting to bed whenever.

so that's what's new since monday. i guess i also bought an iPhone today so that's new :) i'll be sending out texts and/or emails with the new number. since my old phone is with verizon it still work and i'll probably keep it up and running for another couple of days to make sure people can contact me if they only have the old number. needless to say...today's been a good day :)

Pray like this...

No. I am not going to tell you how to pray. I have no business telling you how to pray. I know no better than you. I do know what you should be praying though. And I bet you probably know the prayer, even if you've forgotten what it really means to pray this prayer. I'm talking about the Lord's Prayer. We've been talking, well Jim has been preaching about it, over the past several weeks and will continue for the next several weeks until we've dissected the entire prayer.

Jim, the lead pastor, has encouraged us to pray the Lord's Prayer every day, if not two or three times a day. To find that quiet place, that calming, tranquil place without interruption. For some its a familiar chair, or a quiet bench in a park, or perhaps even a few quiet moments to yourself when you get in to work first thing in the morning. I haven't found that place yet...but to be honest I haven't exactly been looking for it. I should. I need to. I want to.

This last Sunday we came to the part of the prayer that asks "give us this day our daily bread." Pretty simple request. Please provide enough for me to make it through the day. Enough. Not please give me a week's worth of food, not a month's worth, not a year's worth, but simply enough for today. If we had more than what was needed today then we'd have this invisible security blanket of knowing that we had enough for the year, month, or week. That on the first of the month, or on Monday morning we'd have more than we needed for today. Daily is the key here. Enough for today. No excess, no extra, no reserves...just a sufficient amount for this day, for today. Can you imagine if we truly lived our lives day to day? Anyone reading this probably has no idea what that's like...at least not firsthand...and definitely not actually living it. Instead, we as Americans live our lives in excess. Even the most devout, humble and selfless of us live in excess.

It is the American way if ever there was one for the new millennium. Sure we now have hybrid cars, but they fit seven people (when we only have a family of three or four), and come loaded with CD, MP3, AC, DVD, GPS, ABS, sun roof, power windows, power seats, cruise control, heated seats, high performance sound systems, removable third row seating...and so much more. Are those features nice? Sure. Do we really need them all just to meet our daily needs? No, but we like that the options are available to us on a daily basis.

Funny thing that since I started this post I've been all googly-eyed over the iPhone. Talk about excess!!! I want one badly, but haven't yet been able to justify buying one and starting new service with AT&T. Don't know if I will be able to but I'd like to say I'm strong enough to deny myself this excess...only time will tell there.

I've also run this idea of living in excess by people during the last week. I got mixed results. Some people agreed with me, others mostly agreed but had their own take on it. Unfortunately that was earlier last week so I can't remember anything about it now.

I guess it all comes down to balance. I truly believe life is all about balance. Well...life is about a lot of things but much of it comes down to balance. For those parts of life where we live in excess, we should try to balance those areas out with some frugality. Not to say this is the right rationalization for an iPhone, but if I go so excessive with my cell phone maybe I balance that out with driving my car less...or start using re-usable grocery bags at the supermarket...or getting more involved with the church and really, really giving back while finding my lost relationship with God. Maybe I can start right now...maybe I can start by making time throughout the day to pray...to pray the way my Father taught me to pray:

Our Father who art in Heaven...I like the sound of that. I really like the sound of that.