Trader Joe's

My new job is going quite well. I love the people that I work with. They're really fun, encouraging, and super helpful to my newbie status.

I've definitely toughened up the past month that I've been there. I noticed last night that my volleyball legs have returned and my quads are definitely protruding a bit more than they did in late Spring. My mind and body also like to think that I've dropped a few pounds, or at least toned a bit from the repetitive exercise. I'm actually sore after work. Each day and night before and after my shift I take a little extra time to stretch to help my muscles stay calm and collected. That is one difference from adolescence to now. In high school I knew stretching was good for me and I liked it, but now I really need to do it to help me get around the next day without hobbling across the apartment. I like the fact that I get exercise at work, and this way there really is no need for me to covet a gym membership. More materialistically speaking now, my arms and legs are also quite bruised as a result of my fearless raid on each box of cereal, chips, or dried fruit and nuts. While I got cool color-changing bruises on my hips and knees from volleyball, the quantity of brown spots all over my body makes me feel like an overripe banana. Oh well, I view them as battle scars, and proof of my fierce and efficient perspective on being a hard working employee.

Not only have I noticed a physical change, but a change in myself. Part of that is my grumpiness and irritability from the change in sleeping patterns and exhaustion of my body, but also from these physical limits I am making other life limits too. This simple job is helping me to prioritize in my life what I have, what's in front of me, and what I want. For the first two weeks in July when I wasn't working, I was able to devote much of my time to reading and solo activities that I do just for me. A huge part of that has been spending time reading a vast genre of books, and actively and lovingly pursuing my Creator through reading my Bible and journaling. This yearning and devotion to read, study, taking quite time to sort through my thoughts has carried into the latter half of the month and taken the front burner to many other free-time activities. While I am sad to not always share the companionship of my friends in the North Shore, my time to myself is much needed and for that I am grateful that I have it. But this time is not always just by myself, I know I am in good company of my God, the Ultimate Companion. All this to say, that work is going well and I can see ways that my being there is good for me on many levels.

Goals for the next month of working at Trader Joe's:

• Remain injury free (because I don't count the bruises, mostly figuratively speaking, but that can be applied literally as well)!
• Become faster and more efficient with the price gun
• Be trained on register
• Have everyone's name memorized (except the few people who I never have met and will never see)
• Make one purchase at Trader Joe's and reap the benefits of my 10% employee discount

(I know these are very realistic, but purposely so, so I can achieve them. Haha!)

Hibiscus

This flower always reminds me of California. My parents have a few of these bushes in the back yard next to the garage...red, white, and yellow, I think. They look so fresh and tropical, I can't help but feel better when I see them.

The hibiscus is also the logo on my Trader Joe's t-shirts. Yes, it's a definite plus to my work uniform. We started selling a hibiscus plants at the store today. They were little plants, hardly like the grown bushes at home. I'm tossing the idea with getting one...

Other cool things about the hibiscus is that it attracts bees and butterflies and is used in tea.

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

In my psychology class, we're in the section about Theories of Intelligence. So to help understand the material, and myself, better, I decided to take a proactive approach of interacting with the material. Here are the results from an intelligence test based on Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences:

***

Intelligence Type Your totals Linguistic 25 Logical-Mathematical 33 Musical 38 Bodily-Kinesthetic 25 Spatial-Visual 29 Interpersonal 24 Intrapersonal 35

To download the test I took for yourself, click here.

Jesus, I Am Resting

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what You are;
I am finding out the greatness of Your loving heart.

You have bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Your beauty fills my soul,
For by Your transforming power
You have made me whole.

Simply trusting You, Lord Jesus, I behold You as You are,
And Your love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart;

Satisfies my deepest longings,
meets, supplies my ev'ry need,
and surrounds me with its blessings:
Yours is love indeed!

Ever lift Your face upon me as I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Your smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father's glory,
sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
fill me, fill me with Your grace.

Due

I think I am past due for a more serious blog entry. While taking a few minutes to do a bit of research on various plants has been fun for me, there are more things going on in my life than just gardening.

The past few weeks I have been back in Massachusetts after a wonderful week visiting family in Whittier. My trip home was truly restful and full of quality time with people in my life who will always love me and support me in all that I do. I only wish I had more time there with them. I went into this trip with a mindset of ease, meaning I have no agenda except to be with my family and people I love. Some days were quiet ones at home and others were spent out and about in LA or visiting grandparents. I tried to do a bit of documenting, but more pictures of the week's activities would have been nice.

The trickiest part of the vacation was the week back here in MA afterwards. After most vacations, I need some time to process what has happened anyway, and shortly after returning to Peabody in addition to the trip-processing, I had to begin processing Grandy's health as it took a turn for the worse. This was the first time that there have been health issues with one of my grandparents and I wasn't close by. Being so far away, I was physically unable be supportive and helpful with what needed to happen to care for Grandy, which was different from the close proximity I had when Grandpa and Grandad were in and out of the hospital.

As a result, I retreated most days to the "corners of my mind," not only thinking about the previous week and childhood memories, but also of what may come and how I might respond. I know my dark and disturbed days caused some distress to my roommates and friends in the Northshore, but at the time, I couldn't care about hiding my "poopy" attitude. I had bigger things to think about. In my self-centered world, I was not in a place to be thankful for or even acknowledge their sympathies and sometimes even their presence, yet I still wanted the reassurance of their company at a distance.

Well I got the distance. It so happened that the upcoming week was Fourth of July weekend and many of my friends and all of my roommates were heading out of town for the weekend. This just about caused me to never leave my room again out of depression (except for the fact that I would be cat-sitting and had to). While outwardly upset and feeling abandoned, I knew that I needed this time alone.

The Holy Spirit has been stirring in me, helping me to try to figure out what is going on in my life. It really is prayer answered, as I had been asking that God reveal to me areas in my character and life that I need to work on. The surge of emotion that was seeded with Grandy's poor health, lit a more quiet but unsettled sense in me, like an undetermined craving. It wasn't until I was left alone with God, without the safety and distractions of my family, friends, and roommates, that I would actually turn to Him and face whatever it is He wanted to lay before me.

I rested. Spent time doing activities on my own that I enjoyed doing solely for myself. Gardening. Reading. Generally when I'm with other people, I self-impose activities and ideas to accommodate them or what they would give preference to, but this time it was just me. Being alone made it okay for me to  feel like I was allowed that sense of selfishness.

I went to Romans. I had been thinking about wanting to study this book of the Bible for a while, and what finally got me to go there was a quote from Chuck Smith, a pastor whose sermons I often listen to, 

"Any time you get discouraged, any time you're down, just dig into Romans 8. You can't get though that chapter to the end, and not just be...on top of the world. Look at it, in detail."

I clung to Romans 8. For a few days, I just read that chapter alone out loud, hearing my own voice say the words. From there, I have begun going through the book, chapter by chapter, doing my own study. Coming to terms with the material there. Building my foundation in doctrine. Making connections between the truths I have in my heart and putting them with the Word of God. I pray the the Holy Spirit intercedes for me and helps me to understand what I am reading, so that I take God's word as it is, and not twisting it into something else. I know I am far from having a portion of understanding of what the entire book has to offer, but for now, I am being rooted in my relationship with God.

My life is changing. I feel like I've finally clambered onto the boat and we've just pushed off the dock. I'm getting my bearings and my land legs are adjusting. The boat is still a bit wobbly from the push off, but I'm sensing the rhythm that will soon come from the boat's power and direction against the waves of the sea. It's hope. I'm learning hope.

Filling my mind

Trying to read more. I'm in the zone.

Follow me on Goodreads at:
 http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1672039-kathryn-hayashi

Celandines

These are the first flowers that Edmund notices at the coming of Spring while riding on the White Witch's sleigh. As a tie to the story, Wikipedia says, "celandine comes from the Latin chelidonia, meaning swallow: it was said that the flowers bloomed when the swallows returned and faded when they left.^[1] "  Also, to some, they are considered a weed, but they have special medicinal properties. One includes the dried herb combined with hot water serves as a cure to dermatatis and other skin-related rashes. Many other authors in addition to Lewis mention celandines: William Wordsworth, J.R.R Tolkein, D.H. Lawrence. Check out the references here.

Daylilies

These are definitely going in the front bed.