Sunday, August 17, 2008

I'm feeling kinda "blah" physically this morning. I must have allergies, I'm always waking up with a stuffy nose and itchy, irritated eyes. I have to use eye-drops and a nasal pump practically every morning. It helps somewhat, so that's good. Patrick got me started on that, as he has been using a netty for a long time and it really helps him.

I was supposed to be drinking coffee at the same time as writing this, but my dad thought it would be a good idea to dump what was left in the Starbucks coffee bag into the filter. Oh dear... I thought it smelled strong and then I lifted the lid and noticed that it was filled completely to the brim, and bubbling over... I was SOOOO mad! I obviously over-reacted, but my dad's behavior has been really challenging the last few days. He is acting aggressive and impulsive, and is being quite mean to us. He is sick of us bossing him around, so he's not afraid to let us know that he's not a child, etc, and is being snappy. So to avoid making him angry, I took for granted that he remembered how to make the coffee himself, only to find out that indeed he did not. He shouldn't even really be drinking too much caffeine on his meds. But whatever. I came downstairs to cool off a little bit. No coffee + being annoyed at my dad's recent behavior = bad mix. So on to another topic.

I "slipped up" (if you wanna call it that) with my budget yesterday. I went to Scrapbook Centrale and bought some new American Crafts. I spent 26$, which is not that much for scrap supplies, but still, can't be spending that every few weeks. I wanted to get paper for the mini-album that I'm starting about my high school years, so it's justified. I won't be back there for quite some time because I'm working for the next two weeks straight, and then I start school. There will be no time left for shopping after that. Oh, and last night I also bought some songs for Rockband... spent 7$, but it was for three Oasis songs that will bring me countless joy and entertainment.

I don't want to beat myself up over the whole budget thing. I just want to be more aware of where my money is really going. Just the fact that I've had to come report this here has made me realize that I'm somewhat of a consumer/marketing sucker and I need to just slow down. I don't need to be spending that much every day or every few days. Yes, I still want to have fun, but in less expensive ways. I realize that a lot of it has to do with the thrill of shopping, the hunt for the perfect item, and the excitment of having something to do. Not such a good thing. When I think about it, I could have probably just forced myself to be more creative to make the mini-album with stuff that I already have, you know? It makes for some good reflecting, which I need to do a lot more.

Pat is very good at reflecting. In fact, he does so every day. He writes every day; his mind is constantly overflowing with ideas and complex thought. A while ago I starting sharing some of his daily thoughts, then I stopped for whatever reason. Well I think I should start again. Here's some wisdom that caught my eye, isn't it just so true?

Most arguments can be avoided in the first 5 seconds. It is important that when you ask someone an important question and expect them to react the way you want, you don’t overreact when it does not happen. It is like playing the lottery and expecting to have all the correct numbers, when all other numbers will just make you upset. If you focus only on the response you did not get and not on working with the response you received, your conversation will no longer be relevant to the other person. Your thoughts will be locked away in conflict, and you will not react properly to the person you are speaking to. In fact, disagreement will most likely arise. We hate it when people label us or judge us, so don’t label and limit people’s responses until you have had time to absorb them with positive intent.

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