Five Minute Friday: "First"

Our Mistress of Ceremonies for the Five Minute Friday is Kate over at Heading Home.  Hope you link up with us and join the fun.

GO! 

"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." - Matthew 23:12

Why do people feel like they have to be first at everything?  Yes, I love a spirit of competition, but the "me first" attitude causes more lost friendships. bankruptcies, and car crashes than a little bit. 

I see it at my workplace often.  I'm waiting on a customer (who was there first, by the way).  Invariably someone walks up to the counter, ignores the customer I'm serving, and rudely interrupts, plus get his/her panties in a wad if I ask him/her to wait until I'm done with my other customer. 

What has happened to us?  We make kids think that a good work ethic is beneath them, but bathe them the entitlement mentality.  The very things that would advance them in the world we loathe, but let little Ronnie Boo-Boo not get to use the water fountain first at summer camp and a torrent of tears and drama are to follow.  This mess is exactly why I "retired" from teaching.

STOP!
 

Gray Glitter: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Want to join the party?  Go on over to From This Side of the Pond  for the Hodgepodge link-up!

Are you ready for new? Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? Do you want it to be?

Good Lord, YES.  2016 MUST be different from 2015, and yes, I want it to be.

January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology?

Being behind.  No, I don't mean I have to get the latest, greatest tech toy, however, I am usually years behind in technology.  CD's were common for more than a decade before I could afford the player, much less the discs.  I didn't get a smart phone until late last year, and then only at the behest of someone else.  I'm running programs I purchased 15 years ago on my laptop (which is running Windows 7 because I loathe 10) because the newer versions are so expensive.  Heck, I'm not even reading my Kindle books on a Kindle; There's lots of free Kindle books, but the price of the reader is outside the budget right now.  I don't want to spend all my money on toys, but I don't want to become a dinosaur either.

It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, and general uselessness) in 2016. You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

I hadn't heard of any of these until now.  Some on my list would be:  like (as in, like, you know, using like the word like instead of finding something like constructive to say), couldn't care less, epic, tolerance (for it's misuse to mean "put up with anything"), and bae (the kids use that one a lot--I have no idea what it means).  Do I need to play Word Crimes again?

Share one of your current health related goals.

Run more 5k's.  Finances and health issues kept me sidelined for a good portion of the running season.  Here's to a better year of running and health.

Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, paint, wardrobes, hair, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe?  Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?

I don't mind my gray hair. I call it "God's glitter" on my head.   I consider myself one of God's art projects in progress, so a little glitter never hurt anything.  I only look good wearing dark shades of gray.  Light gray makes me look fat..er. 

Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Is that a tradition in your home? Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you?

The South has that tradition, but I'm not a big proponent of it.  My take on it is; why are we working so much harder at preparing and eating "lucky" foods and staying broke than we are at changing the behaviors that would get us prosperity faster than eating greens? 

What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will you do about it this year?

The internet.  I'm going to start setting a timer.  Unless I'm doing something constructive like blogging or taking a webinar, once the timer goes off, that's it.  I think it will do a lot to help my mood.

Insert your own random thought here.

I'm working on setting goals for the year.  No, not resolutions, things I actually plan on doing.  I've watched a couple of webinars on the subject. It's been interesting.  Let's see how it goes.

Auntie's 2016 Bookworm Challenge: Intro

Graphic by Cliparts.co.

Well, the 2015 reading challenge has come to a close.  Time for a whole new one. 

Last year, the challenge was to simply read the books we already had on the shelf or on our Kindles/Nooks.  This year, we'll continue the trend, but the goal is to read more and to take a few trips outside the norm.

I've seen several great reading challenges that I will pull from once in a while.  For now, let's set a numeric reading goal for the year.  Last year I took the reading challenge on GoodReads of reading 20 books.  I read 21.  This year, my goal is at least 30 books.

As per last year (which really was just yesterday by the way) I will review each book.  I may change up the format and try new things.  We'll see.  I would really like more interaction with y'all if possible. 

The point is to have fun and feed your brain at the same time.

Alright, off you go then.

Ready, set, READ!

Reviews for this year's books:

Book 01     Book 11     Book 21
Book 02     Book 12     Book 22
Book 03     Book 13     Book 23
Book 04     Book 14     Book 24
Book 05     Book 15     Book 25
Book 06     Book 16
Book 07     Book 17
Book 08     Book 18
Book 09     Book 19
Book 10     Book 20
 
12/31/16 - Well, as you can see, I didn't meet my goal of 30 books.  However, I'm not disappointed.  For starters, I didn't finish my first book until late March (I'm not sure why).  Also, included in those 25 books is a complete read through the Bible; a daunting task in itself.  I learned so much about myself, gained some much needed knowledge and encouragement, and had a great time doing it.  As Dave Ramsey said, "Charlie 'Tremendous' Jones said, 'You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet.'"  I am definitely not the same because of the books I've read and the people I've met this year.

Well, on to next year.

02/11/17 - Wait, I forgot one!  I read The Gruffalo (which was adorable, by the way) to a local elementary school for Read Across America.  So that's 26, not 25.