If Idle Hands are the Devil's Playthings...

...then I am in a bad way.

i'm bored...really bored.

my post-college life is quite a change of pace from the non-stop busyness that was my high school and college years. basically, i wake up, go to work, come home, and that's it...seriously.

because i am still checking out churches and whatnot, i'm not really plugged in anywhere around here, i haven't quite motivated myself enough to get to the gym yet, and i spend a lot of my day flying solo at work so i haven't gotten to know anyone there really, thus boredom has set in.

i'm taking suggestions on what to do with my time...if it's good...i'll write a special feature on it :)

What am I supposed to do with my time now?

So, because I have nothing better to do with myself or my time, I made it my goal to finish the 111 Worst Songs playlist. Now, the thing is, everytime you start the station it starts you back at the beginning and there is no skipping ahead past the songs you've already heard, so I had to start fresh this afternoon--and I was making serious progress too, I got down to about 63 or so when tragedy struck...

for some God-forsaken reason the playlist started back at number 111 with Paris Hilton (and no one can ever convince me that Paris Hilton is somehow less awful than Hootie, who is in fact not awful at all but someone was ranked lower, along with Will Smith).

And while I do suprise myself with the amount of endurance I have for completely meaningless tasks, I'm not sure I will barrel through those first fifty or so songs again...so with this adventure coming to an end, or at least a pause, I will leave you with three nuggets of musical treasure that you need to check out.

First is none other than a lovely duet by none other than The King of Pop Himself and Sir Paul McCartney called "The Girl is Mine."

Followed by a little dose of Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True."

And then perhaps the best thing I have come across in years, a true icon of musical greatness "The Fast Food Song" by the Fast Food Rockers. Let's eat...to the beat!

The 111 Worst Songs

As many of you know, I have somewhat of a tendency to be drawn to and seriously enjoy the things of this world that some might label awful, corny, or lame, but that I refer to as "under appreciated." It's the reason why I watch Pauly Shore movies and have considered on more than one occasion buying the new purple acid wash jeans Target is trying to bring back (and I am sure you guys could come up with an entire list of things I am missing). I also, am a bit of a pop culture ho, so obviously when I came across the 111 Worst Songs channel on AOL radio, I had no choice to listen.

I have to say I was quite entertained (and couldn't help but giggle) that as the songs began playing I found myself singing along or discovering new guilty pleasures (including "Stars are Blind" by Paris Hilton--don't hate, catchy pop music is catchy pop music). As pleasurable as this was, I was quite saddened that several of my all time favorite songs (namely "Dirty Pop" and "This is Why I'm Hot") were on the list.

Granted, there were some seriously terrible songs on the list ("That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain and "America A-O" by Aaron Carter) and some predicted ones ("Are You Jimmy Ray?" by Jimmy Ray), but where do these people get off putting the Hoff on the 111 Worst Songs list?

So I didn't get to finish the countdown, but it was entertaining nonetheless...

...And that's what I did with my Sunday afternoon...

It's fun to work at the Y-M-C-A

I couldn't resist.

So, this week concluded my first full week as an employee at the A.E. Finley YMCA (where apparently Clay Aiken used to work before he hit the big time).

For all of those who are interested, my official title is Senior Camper Coordinator, which essentially means I plan for and run the middle school portion of the track out sessions. More or less, I am a counselor but I make my own schedule and have a little more freedom in creativity and activities. In Wake County there are four "tracks" of year round school that kids can be on, so they all go on break at different times, thus the need for track out programs. So basically, every 3 weeks new kids come through until all four cycles have been and then it starts over.

I'm learning that each track will bring it's own unique set of kids with completely different personalities and challenges. Last week my kids were all pretty chill and they were definitely your younger middle schoolers, still in a place where they liked to play and things like that. This track, I have some drama mamas, flirts, awkward kids, and they all like to talk non-stop at a loud volume.

I'm being challenged in a lot of ways partially because I haven't counseled in three years and partially because middle schoolers are not my best age group to work with. Plus, on top of all of that I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of how the YMCA works and how they do things and what they expect, and the kids are used to doing things the old way and they recently restructured the track out program so there are just a lot of factors that go into an overall feeling of unpreparedness. And to be honest, there is kind of a silly feeling like I'm somehow cheating on Rockfish by working for the Y.

For the most part, I really am enjoying my job, but I can't say I've truly developed a heart for it yet, which is something I pray the Lord will give me. It's also hard because, honestly, it's not a position I plan on holding for too long (although it's a great fit for my situation now), which makes motivating myself difficult sometimes.

All in all, middle schoolers and ridiculous no matter where you work, but somebody's gotta keep them in line :)

I will post about my new job later...

...but right now you need to check out my sweet new kicks. i figure, if i have to wear tennis shoes everyday, they ought to be friggin' awesome--and does it get better than zebra stripe and highlighter yellow? i submit that it does not.