Hello.

So my blog is changing addresses. Unfortunately I suspect that the email account I used for tailormade.blogspot.com is being used by somebody else or has been hacked into or something wierd. Since the email address was not my primary address I deleted the account.

So if you do check it out regularly or bookmark it or something (or if you want to start!) then go here....

http://www.just-debs.blogspot.com

Thanks.

Let's talk about Starbucks. The largest coffehouse chain in the world. (Fact). I, for one, having spent significant periods of time outside NI appreciate having Starbucks around although I will never understand why their menu is limited here. Do they think that Irish peeps wouldn't fancy a passion fruit iced tea or a crushed strawberry lemonade?

This is not the point.

Irish peeps are sometimes renowned for being intellectually challenged or 'thick'. And we certainly don't take kindly to large monopolizing American franchises like Starbucks. But we don't do ourselves any favors when we attempt to order coffee in said franchises. For the record, we are actually a semi-intelligent nation with a commendable education system but in Starbucks we are clueless.

Yesterday I stood in line behind a woman who wanted 3 simple drinks...2 Americano's and a mocha. She made it so complicated that she had to go back up to the counter 3times to complain that it wasn't what she wanted. And then she complained about how crappy the service was....she will probably sue the coffeehouse for negligence because that is also what we do here. Sue people.

Meanwhile peeps in Vancouver are enjoying being all famous and olympic-y AND being capable of ordering coffee.

I used to be really good at writing blog posts. You're probably reading this because you find yourself with too much time on your hands so take a little more time and go look back at some of the quality entries I wrote back in the day. And now when I sit to write, I have so many mental little thoughts racing through my head that I can't physically put them all together. So the best thing is to bullet it all up for you....

1. My room is a holy MESS.

2. It's funny how things work out.

3. I love youth ministry.

4. I hate youth ministry.

5. I'm off work for 6days, what on earth will I do?

It was our senior youth retreat this weekend. It's always a wierd feeling when you get home from a weekend away but this time it's different and I'm not exactly sure why. The past few months, with my faith, I've been working on letting things go. Taking stuff out of my head and putting it in God's hands and trusting that it'll be ok. And it's been good, I've seen things turn out ok and it's been encouraging. But the challenge, I guess, is continuing to leave those things in God's hands and out of your head.

Things will always come back to haunt you, to make you doubt yourself and the people around you. It's really hard to look back on what's happened in the past and not say 'why did I react that way' or 'why didn't I do that instead'. I think I've said before that life is a balancing act. As a christian, we have to constantly find a balance between accepting the grace of God and His forgiveness without taking it for granted, trusting God with everything that troubles us without becoming complacent, serving God without letting our faith grow cold, setting good examples without becoming self righteous and still learning from Jesus' examples, resisting temptations but still enjoying life.

And it's really hard because once you get ahead with one thing, you're reminded of something else you have forgotten. All in our search for holistic living. Sometimes I doubt myself as a leader because there are so many things I haven't mastered yet...but if I wait until I do, then I'm never going to be a leader. And I love being a leader. 

Lists. I have met numerous people in my life that make lists. List makers. For these people, life just doesn't function as well without a list. A check list before you leave, a shopping list, a to-do list, a stress list, a list of goals.....it's endless.

I am also a list maker, a keeper of check boxes, a notepad fiend. I'm not too sure when it happened but it is definitely fact when you consider the number of lists I found in my bag today and threw out. Some of which weren't even completed. Maybe it is to compensate for my seriously bad time management skills or maybe it is a little like therapy or maybe this is just what happens when you get a little older and life gets busier. Whatever it is, when I can take all the thoughts that are clouding up my headspace and write them down on paper then I can think straight again. I can sleep sound or get on with my day without worrying that I'll forget about this and that. And getting to put a tick in the box when you get something done makes it even more satisfying when you get something done!

So if you make lists, props to you and be proud of your lists. It's character building.

Speaks for itself really. Very very good :o)

Reasons why Robin Hood is the best hero and legend.

1.He lives in a forest.

2. His weapon of choice is a bow & arrow which requires mad skills and is seriously cool.

3. He wears tunics and hooded cloaks, no super tight onesies or balaclava's decorated with spiderwebs.

4. I like the color green.

5. His men are always merry.

6. He is a compassionate and kind hearted outlaw. A good bad guy!

7. Kryptonite ain't gonna kill him Yo.

8. He's a one girl guy.

9. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. This is a mission statement I'm ok with.

Somebody asked me over New Year what my perfect guy would be like. I think he's Robin Hood.

Glee. I love it and I am not ashamed to admit that I have hitched one of my stars to the Glee bandwagon filled with hilarious one-liners, obsessive crushes and cheeseball songs. I'm involved.

I watched an ep tonight where hot guy in a fake wheelchair gets into a scrap with sometimes-hot guy in a fake wheelchair. Scrap turns into a fist fight and hot teacher breaks it up demanding an explanation.

"I'm just really stressed about the bake-sale Mr Schu"!

He's not stressed about the bake-sale. He is stressed because he slept with his best mate's girl, knocked her up then fell in love with her. FAIL. But here is the thing...we all say we are stressed about the bake-sale, or 'work', or 'church stuff', or we're just really tired or just really busy.

I'm a little stressed about the bake-sale. There is alot going on, so many people to contact and keep informed, so many things to be organized and planned at work and at church and with friends and at home. After School club and youth retreat and summer holidays. But beyond that I'm thinking about making decisions about what happens after this semester, this summer. Making decisions about relationships and trying to enjoy life because I do love it at the minute.

Life is one big bake-sale.

Dr Seuss was a smart smart dude. He said this...."Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind".

Sometimes I'm loud and outspoken but it doesn't make me arrogant. And in others I am quiet and unsure, but that doesn't mean that I'm afraid or that I don't have alot to say. I'm incredibly stubborn but I'm easy-going. I forgive easily but it takes a long time to forget. I try to keep my feelings hidden but it doesn't mean I don't have any. I've made mistakes but I've achieved alot.

Being comfortable with who you are and fighting the typecast boxes people put you in is a constant battle, but it's part of the journey. My best friend gets married tomorrow and I have finally booked flights back to Vancouver. I'm happy in the skin I'm in and it has been a long string of months since I have been able to say that.

We were talking last night, over 36 tunnocks seasons greetings tea cakes and lightly salted tortilla chips, about living at home with parents and how crazy they all are....throwing important stuff in the bin for no good reason, muttering under their breath even though you have already given in and started said household chore, stirring cups of tea for a really really really really REALLY long time. And I have to ask....

Why do parents ask us to do things when they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves? And why is it so hard to ask this question without sounding unbelievably obnoxious.

Why do parents lock in on one thing, lets say the coffee cup you left in the lounge the night before, and turn it into the worst offense you could possibly have committed. For instance, "while we're on that note of the coffee cup....you are really really bad with money".

Why do parents want to know absolutely everything? How much money do you earn? Whats in those shopping bags you just brought in with you? Who was on the phone? When are you going to grow up?

You gotta love your parents and the the older you get the more comical these incidences become and isn't it somewhat comforting or refreshing to know that all parents are the same. The man must insert a chip into your brain when you have your first child that programs all this stuff in. Maybe thats why people have water births...you can't insert an electronic chip in water. It goes against common health and safety regulations.

Happy 2010.