The Christianville Spirit: Me on Anxiety

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparkles

January 28, 2015-TCS # 435

So, My Readers, I want to tell you about a Common Problem that Us PTLSers have and One that I honestly Hate. It is called Anxiety, or at least that is the More Complex Term. Nervousness is a More General Term. We PTLSers experience Anxiety often, I think it is just part of it. Sometimes, We get Anxious about Worthy Things like Things that May Harm Us like Most People But, Most of The Time, We get Anxious about Things that might be a Bit Weird to The Typical Person. Like Trying New Things, (In Some Cases) Meeting New People; Big Changes in Routine; Being Overwhelmed with Too Much Noise or Too Much Activity; Different Substances and Textures (Mainly Gooey Textures); and finally, Little Things, like for Little Kids, Baths, Toilets, and Water. The Little Anxieties, We will call those Irrational Fears that come and go. I course, Get Anxious about Those Things and Of Course, Going to The Doctor and Most of All, Needles. I know that Needles is common one, but there are people who don’t mind Needles. I believe that The Most Common of Mine are Doctors; Being Overwhelmed with Too Much Noise or Activity (The “Great Wolf Lodge Adventure” with My Dad was Certainly an Example of That); Doing New Things (Once I do them, I am Okay); Routine is Very Important but I am a bit bendable with that one as long as It isn’t too Extreme; People and Animals in Distress (Exactly why I don’t watch Horror Movies!); Babies Crying; and, Finally, Gooey Substances. This One is The Biggest Trouble for Me. You See, There used to a Toy back in The 90’s called Nickelodeon Gak (It turns My Stomach to even say it, So I refer to it as “The G-Word”), It makes My Stomach Turn just thinking about it! In Summery, It is a more Slippery Version of Silly Putty, or at least, that is what I have been told. When I was Growing Up, they had “Nickelodeon Stores” across The Country, I avoided them like The Plague. I only stepped into one because My Dad wanted to check it out, I digress. Anyway, I did not or Still Do Not like Gooey Substances which includes Gak, Silly Putty, Silly String, or Any Substance that Looks Like It! Here in Texas, at Any Mexican Restaurant, We have what is called “Guacamole”, which to Non-Texans, is Mashed Avocado. I Hated Looking at it because in My Childhood Mind, It associated with “The G-Word” because it was Green and so is “The G-Word.” Today, I am a bit more Lenient about it but, It is not My Favorite Thing to Look at. The Worse Episode that I had was when I had My Braces taken off. So, after They took My Braces off officially, I was so Excited! But, It went away pretty quickly when They told me that I had to have My Retainer Done. Sorry Kids, but Here comes a Spoiler! SPOILER ALERT! In order to Mold Your Retainer, They use a Very Gooey Mold to put in Your Teeth to make Your Retainer. Unfortunately, It has to go in your mouth right then because It will get hard very quickly. Well, Long Story Short, It went in, I gagged horribly (Threw Up My Lunch), and Done. I didn’t learn that I was supposed to Wear them Every Day, I didn’t. In it went again, I believe this happened 3 Times before I learned about This. I learned in The End to put The Retainer with all the slobber in it, facing down, not up. Otherwise, You will find your slobber pooled in It which is Why I didn’t wear them the first time! This Whole Gooey Substance Thing also makes me worry about My Future Love Life. Like Touching Private Parts of My Spouse and Making Love to Her. Also, Thinking about Getting Married makes me Very Anxious. Anyway, Moving On, so How do You know when I am Anxious? and How do I calm Myself?, I am sure you are asking? Well, with The Substance Thing, I have a “Look” on My Face as My Mom likes to say. It is The Look that Says, “I’m about to be Sick Face” and Other Times, It is The “I’m Concerned” Look. My Mom also says that I often scan people for Their Body Language. It helps me to predict what might be happening and it calms My Anxiety. I know that A lot of Other PTLSers, Scream or Cry (Which I will admit, that I too did) Well, at least, The Crying Thing. Gagging, that can be a Sign too of Nervousness. Gagging happens when I don’t like the Texture or Appearance of Food, or Gooey Substances. I often get Quiet when I am Nervous when I am Normally Talkative. I start to get sweaty and My Hands Sweat also. I get a Little Self-Conscious when I have to hold someone’s hand either Romantically or not. 

 So, Now to How do I calm Myself? Well, I have never admitted this, but, Sometimes it helps me to a Hug a Pillow and I have One Big Pillow that I hug. Now, I don’t only hug it when I am Anxious but, I like the Texture of it. My Mom points out that I hug a Pillow everywhere I go. Maybe it is a Positive Texture Thing. One Time when I had to go to The Dentist to have a Root Canal, It helped that I had a TV above Me (with CNN on) to Watch. It helped majorly to tell me that They did not need to give me shot. The Tooth was Dead anyway. When I was Overwhelmed from The “Great Wolf Lodge Adventure”, it helped when I listened to Soft Music. I figured since I loved Geography and I remembered that New Zealand’s National Anthem sung by a Nice Singer with a Ukelele so, that is what I chose to help calm me down. Talking to My Mom certainly helps and having her hugs is a Bonus. Hugging My Dogs helps a lot too because They understand. Now, I do have to say that, Yes I have tried the Anxiety Medication route. But, that turned into an Epic Failure because after I took it, My Head felt sleepy, airy, and it buzzed. I asked My Mom, “Is This what it feels like to be Drunk?” and She said Yes. It turned to be an Epic Failure because The “Drunkenness” Feeling, only made me more Anxious. If Your Child is Anxious about Something, namely Too Much Activity or Noise, Too Much Stimulation, than Pull Them Out and Give them some time to Calm Down a little bit. If They are Anxious about other things than try to Work through it with Them as much as You Can. All in all, Anxiety is one of things I hate about PTLS, but I would not give up My PTLS for The World.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Find Your Way to Calm Your Nerves!   

The Christianville Spirit: The Untold Story of Lynee

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparkles

January 21, 2015-TCS # 434

So, I have quite a Story to Tell You, One that I have never told you. Or at least, I think I haven’t. Consider This One of The Great “Untold Stories” of My Life. You See, I got reminded of it because I received something Very Special. I’m not sure if I told this part but, It leads to a Great Back-Story. See, When I had My Kidney Stone Episode back in November, One of My Mom’s Students got me a Mini-Christmas Tree to help me get better from it. The Student told My Mom, “It’s better than getting him flowers!” because after all, You don’t get a Man flowers if He is not feeling well. I guess, it is one of those Society Stereotypes but, It’s Okay to Me. Anyway, After Christmas, My Mom and I had a debate about What to do with It and My Mom said that We should plant it. So, that is what We did, We planted it in a Pot and I blessed it in Lynee’s Honor (sort of like What I did with Popi’s “Christmas Town”). As You Remember, Lynee was a Girl back in Elementary School that I had the BIGGEST Crush on. I like to say that it was The First Major Crush of My Life. I remember once that I snuck open the “Harrington Phone Book” just out of Curiosity to see her number and Where She Lived. My Childhood Friends, The Herricks and Barsis, always lightly picked on me about My Crush on Lynee. “Lynee, Lynee, Lynee!” they would say and It made me blush. I fell pretty hard for her, in a Child’s Mind like Mine. I think it came from the Fact that You know Someone is nuts about Someone Else when You mention that Person’s Name and You just Can’t stop Smiling (or Blushing). So, Where is The “Untold Story”? Well, This is Part of It. But, The Big Part was a Time that I saw her in High School, in 10th Grade, 11 Years Ago. Little did I know, that it would be The Last Time I saw her. Now, When I think of This Story, It makes me Cringe a bit in The Way that I handled It. But, Here It goes! So, I was sitting in An Aqua Science Classroom and The Teacher was doing Role Call. The Teacher called My Name and I said, “Here.” and, then The Moment that changed it all, The Teacher said, “Lynee Watson”, followed by a Voice in The Back saying, “Here”. I was shocked! I thought, Lynee Watson? Doesn’t that sound Familiar. It took a Moment to Register in My Head and then, I flipped out inside My Head, thinking, “Lynee Watson! I knew Her back in Elementary School! I had the Biggest Crush on Her” I turn around and sure enough, There She was. I had to Look Back Several Times to Realize that It, Indeed, Was Her. It was Crazy because The Last Time I saw Her she had to Move Away at The Beginning of 5th Grade and I was Very Sad that She left. And, At this Time, She was Grown Up too, Very Different from The Last Time I saw her. It took several days for Me to walk up to her and Tell her who I was. Each Day I would see her, I would be too nervous to talk to Her. But, The Whole Crush Thing along with The OCD Obsessions came back too. I did have a Second Childhood Friend that sat behind me, Hayley. Hayley was a little easier to Re-Introduce Myself to. One Day, The Teacher told Us that we had a Little bit of a “Free Period”. This was My Chance, I Thought. So, I got up the Nerve to go talk to Her. “Hi, Lynee” I said Nervously, “I’m Christian.” “That’s Great” She said. Probably thinking I meant, Christian like The Religion. I Said, “It’s Me, Christian. You Know, Elementary School!” Memories on Her Side flooded back, She got excited “Oh My Gosh!, Christian!” and then, We hugged. We reminisced for a while about How both of us where doing and To My Surprise, She told me that when She first Saw Me, She too thought, “Wait a Minute, Is that Christian?!”. I then, told her that I had the Biggest Crush on Her back in Elementary School. Now, This Part gets a little blurry and Sometimes with Good Reason because It is Cringing, thinking about it. I could have sworn that after I said that, I walked away a Short Second to go back to My Chair and She called me back. She asked if I would like to go on a Date with Her. I thought, “Whoa! I’ve never been asked out before!” I, Of Course, was a bit curious as to Why. She told me that She too had Feelings for Me, She too had a Crush on Me back in Elementary School. Now, At This Time in My Life, Socially, I did not know how to handle someone asking me out. And, I told her that I would ask My Mom if It was Okay. Then, I said, “Well, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind” and She WAS Going to give me Her Phone Number to call her but, I of course, told her that I would call her, Referring back to that, “Harrington Phone Book” segment of The Story. After That, I forgot to Call Her but, I think I told My Mom about it. After That, She didn’t show up in That Classroom. Hayley did though but, Lynee didn’t. I wondered what happened to Her. the Teachers could not tell me Where She Went because of Privacy Laws. I was Sad that I didn’t see her anymore. Later down the Road, After Trying to Find Her after Years of Not Seeing Her. I had found out that She passed away in May 2008 and I found 2 Years after She had Passed Away. I wish that I would have just said “Yes”, Gotten Her Phone Number, and Gone Out with Her. Her Life at Home though, Unfortunately, was not a Very Good one. I wonder about it now and Wonder if I was One of The Only Good Parts of Her Life and in an Honest Truth, It probably was. She moved a lot in Her Life but, She didn’t really stay steady in School, except for the Time I saw her in 4th Grade and Again 10th Grade. Even if I decided to Date Her, It probably would have not gotten any better for Her Home Life. Now, as Depressing as This Sounds, This Story has a Point. In My Family, I always tell My Mom and My Brother (And, Yes, even My Dad) that I Love Them, even if They are leaving The House for 2 Minutes, I still say it. Because, After All, You never know when The Last Time that You are going to see someone. So, You should always say that You Love Them, regardless of Whether or not, You do. You don’t want The Last Words to be “I Hate You”, that would be Terrible! Now, as Far the Lynee Story goes, After I found that She passed away, I told her in My Prayers that I Loved and Still Love Her. I am led to believe that The Woman of My Dreams, Bridgett (I believe that is Her Name) that She will look Exactly like Lynee and She will have Lynee’s Spirit in Her. She is My Guardian Angel, after all. All in all, It is a Very Good Story that when I meet  This Woman of My Dreams that I will pass the story down to Her.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Plant a Tree in Honor of Your Loved One and You can Smile as You watch it Grow.      

The Christianville Spirit: People as Trains

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparkles

January 14, 2015-TCS # 433

So, The Other Night I had a Strange Dream that I wanted to share with You. Now, Normally, I do not share about My Dreams but, This Time, I am going to because It has quite a Bit of Meaning. You See, I had a dream about Being on a Train. I think It was because I watched a Video from Cory (Mr. Safety) called “Beer Train” and I think that is Where it came from. For a Few Reference Notes, “Mr. Safety” is a YouTuber that I watched a lot when He was Dating another YouTuber named Kate (Katersoneseven). The “Beer Train” Reference; Cory made a Video about His Adventures in Alaska and Found that There is a “Beer Train” in Anchorage. It goes through some Very Beautiful Scenery and Gets a Little Wild. I was a little Curious about what happened because He said it was Crazy. Anyway, I remember waking up from The Dream with The Thought, “People as Trains, Gotta Stay on Track”. I thought, “Oh Man, I got to write this down!”, Following up with “Oh, I am sure that I will remember”. I didn’t. I remembered it the next day and told My Mom the Next Morning. When The Thought, “People as Trains” came to My Head, I wondered “People as Trains?! That’s Crazy”. It made more sense after Thinking about It. I can consider it a New and Interesting Theory. It is Interesting because Trains go through a lot and see a lot too. As My Friend, Deb tells me, “Life is not about Rushing to The Destination, It is about The Journey.” That is Very True! And, Trains do go on a Journey to get to Places. Not that I have I been, but, The Journey from San Francisco to Seattle is a Journey on It’s Own. Of Course, Trains also behave differently in their journey, as We would in Our Lives. We have Low Points and Go through Boring Parts of The Country. Also, We have High Points and Go through The Most Beautiful Parts of The Country like The Adirondack Mountains in Autumn; Montana; or Along The Pacific Coast. Trains, in their low points crash into Cars, Run Over Objects, or Just have a Conductor that just Lays on The Horn. My Brother tells me that They do that a lot when passing His House in Denton. “Sometimes, They just Lay On The Horn, It is so Annoying!” My Brother would say. Another Low Point, Going on a Crazy Train, You might feel like Saying, “I feel like I’m on a Crazy Train!” I’m sure that You have heard someone say that Saying before or Even “I Feel like This Train is moving Way too Fast!”  The High Points, Those are when Being on a Train or Being a Train is when it gets Awesome. Like How about a Train Plowing through The Snow in The Deep Woods of British Columbia! That is Beautiful! or Maybe the Honor of being The Polar Express and taking Excited Kids up to The North Pole. Sorry, I have seen that Movie a Hundred Times, I think I was getting Really Excited here! Another Cool Thing about Trains is that They take You to some really cool places! There are Times when People take their Vacations by taking a Train Ride to a Certain Places like Through The Mountains, Up to Chicago, Through The Alps, or Around Sydney. You don’t hear about it that often, but You would be surprised if You saw just how many People have their Luggage ready to go at a Train Station. Of Course, I should also mention that There are Different Types of Trains, The Regular Ones, The Historic Ones (like Grapevine Vintage Railroad or Savannah Historic Railroad), Amtrak (Here in The US), EuroStar (in Europe), and Let’s not forget The High Speed Trains (like The Accela Train along The East Coast of The US or High Speed Trains in Europe and China) So, What is The Point of All This? Well, If People are like Trains, We are on Our Own Journey. Sometimes We hit Beautiful Parts or Boring Parts of Our Journey. Sometimes We get stuff thrown at us or Objects like Ipads and Other Things put on Our Tracks (By The Way, You should NEVER do any of Those Things!). Sometimes, A Car, A Truck, and Yes, Even a Person may get in The Way of Our Journey and All While Trying to Derail Us. Sometimes, We will travel though Freezing Cold not seeing a Thing because of All The Snow, then Maybe We will travel through The Warmth of Florida, Mexico, or Spain. We’ll go though Many Cities and Many Railroad Crossings (both that are Lighted Crossarms or Some that are Not Lighted). We may Carry a Very Long Load of Cargo, Maybe Passengers, or Beer-Drinking Partyers. But, On The Other hand, We may carry “Precious Cargo” or Very Elegant Dinner Guests. The Scenery will always change, The People will change, and We Our Train-Selves will Change (like being Upgraded from just a Passenger Train to an Elegant Dinner Guest Party), or As Long as We stay on Track, The Track below us where ever We are, will Never Change. and, Who Knows, We may have More Unexpected Fun than We thought we would on Our Journey. All in all, Being A Train is a part of Life and You never know what You might Encounter.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Remember to Stay on Track on Your Journey.

The Christianville Spirit: Happy New Year 2015

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparkles

January 7, 2015-TCS # 432

Welcome Back, My Readers! I would Love to be The First to Welcome You to an Exciting Year of Thought-Provoking, Teaching Moments, and Yes, Even Touching Newsletters! But, First, Happy New Year and Welcome to 2015! I hope that the Year of 2015 is The Year that Your Dreams, that You have been waiting a Long Time for, Come True. In Other Words, I Hope Your Year Sparkles! Which brings us to This Year’s Tag Line. This Year’s Tagline is The Spirit that Sparkles! It seems like a Fitting Name with It being My Newsletter’s 10th Year of Writing. I started Writing this Newsletter on November 1st, 2005. But, I Think We should celebrate This Whole Year! By The Way, The Credit for The Tag Line of 2015 and The 10th Year of Writing goes to H.J. Angel from East Texas. So, Let’s Get To It! So, Let’s start with a Question. Oh Come On, You Know It’s good when I start with a Question. The Question is What do You Hope for in 2015? I have this New Idea for Two Reasons. First Reason, I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions (that is except the One I made Last Year about Revamping My Newsletter, Which I Did) because Most People give up on them by The End of January. Most Importantly though, I believe that It is Okay to have Big Hopes for a New Year. Why? Because I believe that Once You start Hoping for it, It will be sent to God and The Universe. Myself, Personally, I hope to meet All the Wonderful PTLS Family Members who are reading this, being Inspired and Knowing that Yes, Your Child WILL be Okay and You will too! I also hope that This Year will be The Year that I meet The Woman of My Dreams, Bridgett (If that is Her Name). I believe that it is Her Name like I Purely Came Up with Her Name. It happened for Carol Holiday (Refer to The “Dream Girl” Newsletters, If You want to know more about that). So, Why can’t it happen with Bridgett? Of Course, Many People say that In Order to Get Love, You must be Love. I have No Problem with that. I believe though, that We need more Love this Year and I am talking about All of Us. The Hope that My Mom will meet someone is Always There and I just know that Someone really awesome and Understanding of People with Special Needs is just waiting anxiously to Meet My Mom. Kind of How I’m anxious about Meeting Bridgett. Of Course, I do hope for My Brother too. This Year, although He doesn’t say it, will be Very Big Year for Him and I hope that He is Extremely Successful in Whatever He Does, be it Art or Being really good at Selling Beer and Wine (Thank You, Beer and Wine Class at UNT). Whatever, My Brother does, It has to be surrounded by People. Because My Brother is quite a People Person. I also hope that My Brother will meet The Love of His Life. I hope that Maybe we would Live closer to Family too. So, I do have to Tell You that Because I got into a little trouble in The Romance Department, I am thinking, I should put My “I Believe In Love” Campaign on Hiatus for a While. Don’t Worry, I still Believe in Love and I always will Believe in Love but, You won’t see The Hashtag anymore. You See, In December, Some Woman, who, to put it Shortly, A “Catfish” claiming to be Interested in Me, giving me Details that Let’s Just say, You should not tell on The First Message. Luckily, My Mom was there when I read The Message on Facebook. Later, I found, that after Some Internet Research, It was a Nigerian Romance Scammer. Triple Ouchies! It was Worse than a Catfish. (Thank You, Nev for Teaching Me that One!) Good Thing, that I have been reading His Book, In Real Life. Anyway, although I did not go as Deep as Nev did, It still Hurt Me because I couldn’t believe that Someone would be that Mean! So, I figured that I may have to stop the I Believe In Love Hashtag, or at least, Not use it for a While. Now, on a Lighter Note, I did get plenty of Love from My PTLS Family. I got two Packages over Christmas, One from Scotland (Thank You, PTLS Member Angela Isdale) and One from Germany with German Chocolates, Official Haribo Products, and An Atlas of Deutschland (Germany in German). Thank You to PTLS Member, Lizbeth for That. All in All, I hope You have a Good Year filled with Love and Dreams coming True!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Happy New Year 2015 and Let’s See It Sparkle!

The Christianville Spirit: Christian's Year-In-Review 2014

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

December 30, 2014-TCS # 431

Well, My Readers and Friends, It looks like We have come to The End of Yet Another Year here at The Christianville Spirit and It is Time to Celebrate because next year is The Christianville Spirit’s 10th Year of Writing. I can’t believe that it has been 10 Years since I started Writing. But, We will get to that in 2015. Anyway, Welcome Back from Your Christmas Holiday! I hope You had an Awesome Christmas! I had a Good Christmas and I got to have some Great Quality Time with Both My Former-Neighbors, Robin and Woody as well as My Brother, Michael. So, In Accordance with My Own Tradition, This is The Final Newsletter of 2014, which means One Thing. My Own Self-Produced Year-In-Review. I have always loved watching the Year-In-Reviews on The News and I Figured that I would start doing My Own. This Self-Produced Year-In-Review, I like to call “Christian’s Year-In-Review 2014!” So, without further a due, This is “Christian’s Year-In-Review for The Year of 2014.” So, I had a Good Year This Year filled with Adventure and Love. I should mention that I tried to take control of 2014 and Make Up My Own Predictions, Some came True and Others didn’t. But, Hey! At Least I tried. So, as Any Year, We start in January. The Month of January started with a Moment that was a bit Changing. My Brother, Michael moved out of Our House to Denton on New Years Day (January 1st). It was easier than driving 45 Minutes each way to go to School. On January 5th, We had Our First in Recent Memory, Wind Chill Advisory because The Wind Chill was below 20 Degrees. It was because of “The Polar Vortex” that hit pretty much The Whole Country. In The News, on January 8th, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was involved in what We referred to as “Bridge Gate” because He purposely closed the George Washington Bridge, which He said that He did not know about. In February, One Day, (February 13th) I was talking to My Mom about How I predicted that She would find “The One” for Valentine’s Day and She was eating a Very Messy “Chocolate Goody” as She called it and She looked down and found a Heart-Shaped Stain on Her Napkin. It was Interesting to see! In The News, The 22nd Winter Olympics happened in Sochi, Russia from February 7-23 (Refer to Newsletter with TCS # 388, if You want to see How I felt about that!). In Sports News, The Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl 47 at a Crazy Score of 43 to 8. (Still Hard to Believe!). In March, I like to call it “Marzo” was The First Notable PTLS Awareness Month. I predicted that It would turn out Well, It did! The Saying was “Be Seen, Wear Green” and on March 8th, PTLS Awareness Day, PTLS Family Members all over The World sent Pictures of Their Families wearing Green. It was So Awesome! A Bonus was that There were Plenty of Fundraisers to raise money to Spread Awareness about PTLS and Our Friend, Delaware Dave started Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for PTLS and Funny Enough, He ended up meeting The Love of His Life, Danielle “Cream Tea” who He is going to Marry in 2015. Funny how that Worked Out. He raised Money for PTLS and Doing What He Loves Best, Being in Nature. For The Bottom of My Heart, Thank You Delaware Dave for doing that! On “Marzo” 12th, I got to hang out with My PTLS “Brother”, Tyler, as well Aunt Angie (Tyler’s Mom) and Lauren, Refer to Newsletter with TCS # 393 for All that Fun!  In The News, Also on “Marzo” 8th, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Disappears. To this Day, At the End of 2014, They still can’t find it. Also, In The News, In Late “Marzo” and Into April. There was Crisis in Crimea (near Ukraine) and Russia took it over on April 13th. Also, in April, On April 5th, My Brother had a Rock Climbing Competition at UNT, Where He went to School and He did so Awesome! I am Very Proud of Him! Refer to Newsletter with TCS # 397 for That Adventure! It’s a Good Exciting Read, I’ll Tell You! In The News, On April 2nd, There was Another Shooting at Fort Hood in Texas. This Time, They were More Prepared from The Last Time. On May 21st, My Brother, Spencer, and I got to have a Fun “Guy’s Night” with My Uncle Craig. We had lots of Fun! And, It was Really Nice to have My Uncle Craig hanging out with us. The Next Day, May 22nd, was a Bittersweet Day called “Lynee Day” (The Day that My Friend from Elementary School passed away in 2008). I held a Moment of Silence for Her to Honor Her at 3:33PM Eastern/2:22PM Central. I called it, My “Lynee Day Observance.” I chose that Time because 222 and 333 are Really Good Numbers in Sequence. (I will have to explain that at a Later Time). Anyway, on The Same Day was The Official End of Uncle Craig’s Year-Term in Dallas. On Memorial Day, My Mom and I went to The Mall. Some Lady had almost ran This one Woman over and being Very Rude to Her. I was Very Nice to Her and She ended up Paying for My Mom and I’s Dessert. Thank You Very Much to You! In The News, on May 31st, There was a Volcano Eruption in South Indonesia. A PTLS Family Member barely missed that. In June was a Big Milestone for The Smith Family because on June 23rd, My Cousin Anna successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. On June 14th, My Mom and I’s Friend, Monica Shevell came from Stockholm, Sweden for a Short-but-Sweet Visit. We got to hang out with Her and See how She is doing as well as Hear Some Awesome Stories about Her Time in Stockholm. I should mention that She did do a “Walk-and-Talk” with Her Stockholm Friends to Spread Awareness on PTLS Awareness Day. On a Very Hot Day on June 24th, Furry Members of Our Family, Zoe and Sadie Good-Lord ran off. Thank God that We found them about Mile away and In The Middle of The Street. They were Alive but, Very Dehydrated. And, Finally, on June 1st, I decided to Honor My New Years’ Resolution and I completely Revamped The Christianville Spirit Newsletter Site! In Sports News; The Team of My Hometown, The San Antonio Spurs won their 5th NBA Finals Title. They had to Close down Streets in Downtown San Antonio because of The Celebrations going on. So, now We are The Midway Point of The Year, I hope You are still holding on! Anyway, in July, I got to see The Most Awesome Forth of July Firework Show on TV. It was Part of Macy’s Fourth of July Spectacular. It was So Awesome! On The Brooklyn Bridge, They had American Flag Fireworks coming off of it and going into The River. To Top it off, They had Awesome Patriotic Music as well. Also, On July 11th was The 20th Year of living in Plano. Wow! I can’t believe that It has been that long since We moved to Plano. In The News, to put it Shortly, There were Alot of Political Stories in The News, both here in The US and Around The World. Israel/Gaza, Russia, and Illegal Immigrants. But, In Good News, Germany won The World Cup in Brazil. I don’t watch Soccer (or “Football” as The Rest of The World calls it) but, I figured that I would go easy with The Political Stories. Now, August was a Very Busy Month for Us, between Myself turning 27 Years Old (August 11th) as well as Our Trip to Atlanta and The Beautiful Historic Savannah on August 17th and 18th. By The Way, I would recommend taking a Trip down to Savannah, It is a Beautiful City and Well Worth Visiting. Refer to Newsletter TCS # 414 for That Excitement as well as Ideas of Where in Savannah to go to!  One Highlight in August and For The Year was that We got to My Mom’s Really Good Friend, Scott Lerew for The First Time in 21 Years. He used to Babysit Us when We lived in San Antonio. It was So Awesome to See Him and I hope to see him again soon. I had Numerous Memorable Visits with Many of My Favorite PTLS Members. In The News, On August 11th (My Birthday), Movie Star Robin Williams passed away. I will say, At First I thought that it was a Joke or a Hoax on Facebook because Believe Me, that happens sometimes. But, It was True and It didn’t help to hear that He had Killed Himself. In September, Another Highlight of My Year happened! On September 8th, I got to meet Nev Schulman from The Documentary, Catfish and MTV Show, Catfish: The TV Show. Must Read Newsletter TCS # 416! That will help you understand the background of Nev and Catfish. In Late September, We had Our Annual Texas PTLS Gathering. It was Fun! That is when I met “H.J Angel.” In The News, on a Sad Day of September 4th, TV Star Joan Rivers passed away. She passed away because of Breathing Complications. I always remembered her in Award Show Commentary and She had a Show called Fashion Police after Award Shows. In a Political Story, On September 25th, US Attorney General, Eric Holder resigned from His Job. In October, Besides My Brother’s Birthday on October 26th, It was a Busy Month for Our Family! On October 2nd; My Brother, Michael had his First Solo Gallery up at UNT. It was Really Cool to See Only his Art in an Art Gallery. A Bonus was that Uncle Craig and My Dad came to see it. (Refer to Newsletter TCS # 421, Read All about It and See How Proud I was!). On October 22nd, I got “Watch Over” My Mom’s Friend’s Class while They took their Test. Report came back that They ALL PASSED the Big Test that They were going for. So Proud of Them! (Refer to Newsletter # 422, after Michael’s Gallery Newsletter!). In The News, On October 1st, There was a “Security Breach” in The White House. Someone slipped through The Fence and Got into The White House. Of Course, No One will forget that Throughout October, The Ebola Outbreak and The Fact that Fears about it spread across The Country and The World! It even hit The Same Hospital Twice here in Dallas. Speaking of The Hospital, On November 12th, I had to go to The ER because I had Kidney Stones. Total Shock of My Life! (Refer to Newsletter TCS # 425, If You want to Hear about That Story!). We did have a Strange event happen that I did not tell you about. On The Evening of November 26th, I walked down Our Hallway and I was going to turn off Our Porch Light, when I saw a Screech Owl on The Window Sill above. I got My Mom up to see it. I had told her, “Mom, There is an Owl on The Window Sill above The Front Door!”, My Mom was shocked, She got up and looked at it and then, Took Pictures of It. It was Quite Something to see an Owl that close! In The News, On November 3rd, The Long-Awaited, One World Trade Center (or “Freedom Tower”) opened in New York. In Political News, on November 7th, The US had it’s Mid-Term Elections. And, Finally, We wrap into December. December was a Busy Month for Our Family as well, On December 13th, My Brother, Michael graduated from The University of North Texas (or UNT). My Dad; His Girlfriend, Laura; and, Half-Brother, Taylor and My Half-Sister, Hope came to The Graduation. Refer to Newsletter TCS # 429, for All The Excitement of Graduation and Just How Proud I was of My Brother, Michael. In The News, On December 4th, Protests start to Grow after Grand Jury Decision on the Death of Eric Garner. It didn’t help that The Grand Jury Decision for The Shooting of Michael Brown was a Week earlier. So, That was The Fun, Exciting, and, Crazy Year of 2014! I hope that You made it to The End! If You did, Thank You Very Much. I am sure that It was A lot to Read as well as It is for Me to Write. So, I am going to Close This Year by saying what ABC’s Charles Gibson used to say, “I Hope You have a Good Day” in This Case, I hope You had a Good Year. All in all, It was quite a Ride as is Any Year, filled with Ups and Downs, and Yes, Even Fun Parts of The Ride. But, We came out just fine. 

(For The Last Time in 2014)

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I Hope You had a Good Year in 2014 and I’ll see you back here for Another Exciting Year of Teaching Moments, Thought-Provoking, and Yes, Even Touching Newsletters in 2015 as We will celebrate The Christianville Spirit’s 10th Year! Until Then, My Readers!

The Christianville Spirit: What Does Christmas Mean To You?

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

December 24, 2014 (Christmas Eve)-TCS # 430

Hello My Readers! I am sure that You are surprised to see me writing on Christmas Eve but, Hey! You got to be Dedicated to Your Fans. When I went over My Record of Newsletters, I couldn’t remember the last time in Recent Newsletters that I wrote on Christmas Eve. The Last Time I wrote on This Day was back in 2006 in The Beginning Stages of My Newsletter, so This, in a Way is My Christmas Gift to all My Loyal Newsletter Readers, at some point I will have to come up with a Name for My Newsletter Readers, TCSers, maybe? I think I will leave that one up to You, My Readers. So, This Christmas Eve, I want to ask you an Important Question. Actually, a Few Questions. So, Let’s Start with The First One, What does Christmas (or Hannukah/Kwanza/or even, Yule) mean to You? Does it mean Opening Presents? Does it mean The Birth of Savior Jesus Christ? Does it mean Quality Time with Family? Well, The Truth is, Christmas can mean Many Different Things. For Some, It is Jesus’ Birthday and They honor Him by going to Church or Midnight Mass. It’s kind of like singing “Happy Birthday” But, on a Much Bigger Scale with Carols about His Birth. Kinda think of it, maybe we should all have a Song about Our Birth. Maybe not a Chart-Topping Song but, a Good Song. For Many, Christmas is about The Gifts, but More Importantly the Person who brings the gifts, Santa Claus. I personally, still believe in Santa Claus because He is simply Magical, Don’t Question it, just Believe it when I tell you that It is Magical. I went to a Special Needs Dinner once and They told us that Santa should be seen more as a “Symbol of Love” versus a Symbol of Commercialism. and, More than Anything, Santa being a Symbol of Love, that My Friends, is what makes him Real. Others use it to Spend Time with Family or Friends, to Share The Joy of Christmas. And, that is What We really should be doing. Although, Unfortunately, There are People who either Lost a Family Member or Like we talked about at Thanksgiving, They don’t have any Family or Friends to spend it with. Those who lost a Family Member, I will just say that I am very sorry for your loss, regardless of What Part of The Year they passed away. It is not easy with The First Christmas after Someone passed away. Believe Me, I’ve had it with Poppi and Lynee (I found out about her passing, Two Years too Late at Christmas Time). But, Most of All, People believe that Christmas is about one Major Thing, Peace. Now, I would tell you that We should have Peace all year, but Christmas is The Only Time of Year by which We are Peaceful or We “Try” to be Peaceful. I asked several of My Friends what They wanted for Christmas and Most of Them told me, “World Peace.” And to be Honest, We should all want World Peace. There are People like me who like to do what I call “Recollect” in other words, asking a question like “So, How was Your Year?” and I now ask you that, How was Your Year? Was it Awesome? Was It Great or Okay? or Maybe it was The Worst Year of Your Life? I would hope that the Last One is not the Answer but You never know. And Finally, I add into that, What was The Best of Part of It? and What was The Worst Part of It? I personally, had a Good Year and Yes, I had a Few High Points like The Savannah Trip and Low Points like My Kidney Stones. By The Way, I should do an Honorable Mention to those who do not celebrate Christmas. So, To You Hanukkah Celebrators, I wish you the Happiest of 8 Nights of Hanukkah. The Jewish Celebrate that, by the way. You get One Present for 8 Nights as well as Lighting The Menorah and Spinning The Dreidel. Kwanza is a Holiday celebrated in Africa. Happy Kwanza to You also! And, Finally, The Holiday of Yule. They celebrate The Winter Solstice, They are originators of the “Yule Log” and “Yule-Tide Carols”. Happy Yule to You as Well. Just thought that I would mention them all! All in all, I Hope You have An Awesome (Insert Holiday Here) and From The Bottom of My Heart, Have a Merry & Blessed Christmas!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Celebrations come in Many Forms during The Holiday Season and Open Your Hearts to those All around You.  

The Christianville Spirit: The Christmas Graduation

'The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

December 17, 2014-TCS # 429

So, My Readers, It is that Time of Year again and Finally, I mean it in The Original Format. It’s Christmas Time! I Love Christmas! It is My Most Favorite Time of The Year, with All The Lights, The Christmas Music, and Best Of All, Christmas Cheer. This Years’ Holiday Season has been Unusually busy for Us because of My Brother’s Graduation and I am excited to report that He graduated last weekend. Now, The Whole Time, I had been thinking, “December is an Odd Time to Graduate” but, I think Graduation goes differently in College, at least compared to High School. I will Thank God that My Brother graduated in December versus in The Summer. The Reason being is because My Brother had a relatively small Graduation, Maybe around 1,000 Kids or so, It only lasted about An Hour and 30 Minutes. High School Graduation was more like 3 Hours and with over 2,000 Kids. Afterwards We had a Fun Party at His House and My Half-Sister Hope (who lives in Houston) she came up for His Graduation. Although, We have not seen each other in Long Time, We actually had more in Common than We thought we would have. I thought, “Oh Man, She is on My Dad’s Side of The Family, There is No Way She is going to understand me and My Special Needs” But, Surprisingly, after My Mom and I talked to Her about PTLS, She actually got curious about it and Asked many more Questions about It. She probably takes the Aunt Cindy Theory of it where She understands me and She understands My Dad and how He is. But, yet is in The Middle in Some Way. We are Family, after all. It actually was The One Time in Forever that All 4 of Us (Myself; My Brother, Michael; Half-Sister, Hope; and, My Half-Brother, Taylor.) were together at the Same Time. So, I guess You could say that It was The Gift of Family repeated, but This Time on My Dad’s Side. But, Now I wonder.... Because, Maybe, Just Maybe, My Brother’s Graduation was a Way of Selflessly Giving “The Gift of Family” to My Dad and Here’s another thought, Maybe He needed a Christmas Miracle This Year more than Us. Now, That I think about That, It touches My Heart to see someone I know get “The Gift of Family” that We got Last Year (Uncle Craig, Aunt Kellie, and Cousins Anna and Olivia that We had for The First Time Ever in Dallas at Christmas) and I thought that This Post-Graduation Report wouldn’t be Very Christmasy. It seems though, that Fair is Fair, You get a Great Gift One Year and then, You “Pass the Torch” and Give The Gift You got to Someone Else. It brings me to say that Christmas is not about Presents. Yes, It originated about Presents, but They were Presents for Jesus when He was Born and Then, Jesus gave His Life for Our Hateful and Trashy Sins. The Season of Giving! Huh! I feel like I just solved Life’s Puzzle! I was going to say that Christmas is more about Giving than Presents. But, Maybe here is a Good Theory. The Original “Present” was The Wise Men to Jesus. Then, Jesus gave his Life for Our Ugly Sins, and Finally, Through The Magic of Santa Claus (Father Christmas or Sinter Clauss, in other parts of The World) bring us Gifts in return for Selflessly Giving Gifts to Others. And, I guess You could say, that with Christmas’ Origins is Christmas Present-Day Full Circle! So, IF You put that all together then, that makes Someone like Santa Claus Real! “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!”. He is symbol of Love and Along with Jesus‘ Birth, is an Awesome Combination and That My Friends, is The Meaning of Christmas. Couldn’t have said it better Myself! All in all, Christmas has different meanings to Different People as well as it comes in Different Meanings and A Final Note, Be Open to Other Meanings of Christmas, as Long They are Good Meanings.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Merry Christmas (or “Happy Christmas”, said in The UK and Australia), Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanza too. Happy Holidays for Everyone Else! 

The Christianville Spirit: My Brother's Graduation

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

December 10, 2014-TCS # 428

So, Over The Past Few Months, I have excitedly been counting down the months to something. I have left you quite Curious as to What it is, Well, Not Really. I have mentioned it several times in the Past Few Months and Now that is It is Here, I am in Disbelief. The “It” that I am referring to is My Little Brother, Michael’s Graduation from College. Yes, We have another Graduation to talk about! Back in High School, I always thought the High School Graduation was The Only Graduation that You went through. But, to tell you the truth, College Graduation is Big Deal, not as big as High School. But, For My Brother, It is a big deal because it took a lot for him to get here and for that, I am Beyond Proud of My Brother. It is a Little Odd to Me about This Event, because of Two Things. In a “Typical” Family, The Big Brother graduates from College first and then, The Little Brother. Well, Because of My Special Needs and The Fact that My English and Math levels aren’t at College Level, it would be Very Hard for Me to go to a Typical College Class. Now, A Geography College Class, that would be Very Different But, This Event is not about Me. The Second Feeling is sort of a Reflecting Feeling. You See, again Back in High School, I was going to Graduate First and Then, My Brother would Graduate the Year after. Well, We (meaning The School, My Mom, and I) decided to hold me back a Year so that I could catch up socially with My Peers in “Senior High School” (11th and 12th Grades), that and A Bonus, My Brother and I could graduate together. At the risk of What My Grandma Honey calls “Mushy”, It was actually Nice to Graduate at The Same Time as My Brother, so that We could share The Joy. So, It will be a Bit Odd to see My Little Brother down there in the center of the Stadium and Me not Graduating with Him. This Time though, It is Time that We should reflect on How Much it took for My Brother for get here and That is Merit on it’s own. The Light shines Bright on My Brother as well as, Myself and My Mom because We are Very Proud of Him. Although, My Brother doesn’t see it yet, I Personally see a lot of Success coming ahead for My Brother. I see him being an Artist and having Art Galleries around the Country. Now, although I always thought that He would do something like His Own TV Show, I remember that He wrote a Paper about His Dreams on My Computer and I decided to read a Bit of It (Sorry Michael!) and It said that He wanted to do His Own TV Show, The Simpsons meets Family Guy. He did get an Opportunity to Work at Turner Broadcasting  one time (They are responsible for CNN, Cartoon Network, “Adult Swim”, which is Cartoon Network at Night, TNT, and Many Others) and I personally Hope that He works there at least for a While to see if He likes it or not. I would think that He would Love it, but that is just me. But, Whatever He becomes a success in, Be it an Artist or Working at Turner Broadcasting, I will support him 100%. He is My Little Brother after all. I know that He wants to go to Grad School somewhere and I wish him lots of success either way. All in all, I believe My Brother, Michael, will do so Awesomely at What He does best, Art. Even if His Art does turn a few heads.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I am VERY Proud of You, Michael!

The Christianville Spirit: Decorating for Christmas at My House

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

December 3, 2014-TCS # 427

Happy December, My Readers! I Love December! It is My Favorite Month because of a Cheerful Holiday called Christmas. So, Graduation Countdown Update for My Brother, 11 Days (or 2 Weeks) until My Little Brother, Michael graduates from College! More on that, Next Week.  So, Since It is now The Holiday Season, I would Love to invite you see what happens when We do an Exciting Event known as decorating for Christmas in My House. You See, When it comes to Decorating The House, I get Very Excited and I even decorate My Room. So, My Christmas-Decorating Tradition, We put them up on December 1st (or November 30th) and then, they stay up the whole month until New Year’s Eve when We take them down, In My Head, They resemble The Old Year and Why not start The New Year clean. Anyway, After we get all the Boxes with The Decorations in them, We take them out and start spreading The Cheer. This Year, We had My Brother help decorate. Now, He is not as much in Christmas as We are but, We figured that because He was Graduating from College This Year, December 13, We should “go all out” for Our Decorating and “Go All Out” We did. My Brother and I worked getting The Tree up and Then, I was in charge of Decorating The Tree. This Year, I choose a “Candy Cane” Theme (with Red Bulbs and White Garland) instead of The Traditional Ornaments that My Mom’s Dad (We call him “Popi”) made for Us. But, In The Spirit of “Going All Out”, I decided that We should try out a Tradition that we have not done in a while. You See, When We were Younger, Popi made us both not only Ornaments each year, but Also made little “Houses” and It eventually added up to a Mini-Town. Well, Blame it on Laziness, but We have not put up The Mini-Town in quite a few years and I figure that It was Time to Honor Him since We were “Going All Out” anyway. My Mom and I (My Brother had to go to Work), said a Prayer over The Town to Honor Popi by saying, “We honor This Town in Popi and Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Between My Mom and Brother working on Popi’s Town and Myself working on The Tree, I believe that we did a Really Good Job decorating. But, What about Decorating My Room? Well, When it comes to Decorating, I always have a Debate in My Head, to either Decorate before We do The House or After We do The House. This Year, I did it after. So, on December 1st, I decided to Decorate My Room and Decorating My Room has it’s own tradition in My Head. So, First, I get The stuff out, make sure to Test The Lights, and Have it ready to put up. Here is where gets a Little Passionate and Dare I say, as Grandma Honey would put it, “Mushy”. So, in accordance, to My Room-Decorating Tradition, I get My IPad and/or Computer and put on My Christmas Music. Yes, I Love to play Christmas Music while I am Decorating. You’ll love This Part, I use N’Sync’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” as My Opening and Closing Song for Christmas Decorating, call me Old Fashioned, but that is The Way I like to do it. So, Again with My Tradition, I normally put Lights around My Map of The United States, as Well as part of My Atlanta Braves banner, over My Calendar and encircle The Lights around My Fake Palm Tree. The encircled lights remind me of when My Dad, My Brother, and I went to Palm Springs, California and Spot Lights shined upward to The curve of The Date Palm Tree. Anyway, but in My Lights Test before hand, They did not Work! Oh Boy!, as My PTLS Brother, Tyler would say. I thought, “Okay, either I am going to have to Delay My Room Decorating until I can get More Lights or This is going to be Short” and So, I put on My Music and I decorated with What I had to work with. After I had Done the stuff I normally do, I thought, “Okay, We need to ‘Make-Do’ Here and Make it Better” So, I moved some of the decorations, The 2 Green Bead Necklaces I got one year for St. Patrick’s Day (that is probably another Tradition Story for Another Time), They usually go on My Fan’s Speed Control and The Other over My Dresser. Well, I put The Long One around The Trunk of My Palm Tree (It looks pretty) and The Shorter One over the Atlanta Braves banner, across The Calendar and Ending at My Post Cards I got from PTLS Family Members in Sweden and Denmark. So, After that was Done, I thought, “Okay, now What about The Christmas Lights?, I can’t have a Christmas without Christmas Lights!” So, My Mind went to The ‘Make-Do‘ theory and I remembered that I have a Mini-Christmas Tree that (like Popi’s Town) I haven’t used in a while. So, I put it where My Lamp usually is and I plugged The Lights in, I thought, “Oh Man, I hope these Work” and to My Surprise, They did Work! Now, Okay given It doesn’t provide as much light as The lights would over My Map, but I will tell you, It looked pretty with The Mini-Christmas Tree. Now, that is not to say that I was not disappointed that The “Map Lights” didn’t work but, Maybe It was for a Good Change to have a Little Christmas Tree in My Room. After all, It can’t be Christmas without a Christmas Tree. All in all, Sometimes, You have Your Tradition and It is Okay to not use all of them because Maybe, Just Maybe a Better Tradition comes from the ‘Make-Do’s of Your Life. Now, not to put words in Grandma Honey’s Mouth but, I am pretty sure that She would say that kind of Advice.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Love the Simple Things in Life, Sometimes They are Better.  

The Christianville Spirit: Happy Thanksgiving!

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

November 26, 2014-TCS # 426

Happy Thanksgiving, My Readers! Really, I hope that You have an Awesome Thanksgiving No Matter Who You Are. So, I was having a bit of Trouble with figuring out What I should write about This Thanksgiving Eve. I thought of Maybe, What I’m thankful for or Maybe, My Feelings toward all the Unrest in The Country and In Ferguson, Missouri, but I figured that I should not give that Anymore Energy than it already has. So, What I am going to Write about, You Say? Well, Let’s start with a Question. Oh Boy, I am sure You are thinking. What does Thanksgiving mean to You? And, Don’t Worry, if You say, “Shopping”, I promise to not judge you, unless it is for a Greedy Reason, then I do not Support You. So, Back to My Question, What does Thanksgiving mean to You? As a Friend of My Mom’s and Mine, says, “Thanksgiving is the Only Holiday where You can spend time with Your Family, and not have to Worry about Gifts or Presents” Now, when I heard that, It kind of stung but, only because I am a Christmas-Lover and After Halloween is over with, I am ready for Christmas Movies, Music, and So On. But, The Ugly Truth is that This Friend is 100% Right, Thanksgiving is The Only Holiday to Really have Genuine Quality Time with Family without Gifts or Presents. Again, Not to Diss Christmas because I love Christmas and I always will. But, What about Thanksgiving? Well, Unfortunately, Thanksgiving is often overlooked by The Frantic Holiday Shopping known as “Black Friday” which to be honest, seems to be turning into “Black ThanksFriday.” In My Head, It is like driving into a Double-Metro Area like Baltimore-Washington or Even My Own, Dallas-Fort Worth. You enter Fort Worth and find that, No You do not want to go to Fort Worth (and, Fort Worth is a Very Down-to-Earth, Cowboy City) but, You want to go to Dallas. Well, What do You do? Well, skip it of course, take the “Bypass” around it and get to Dallas faster, instead of going through it. So, Thanksgiving, By The Way, to me, Anyway, means Quality Time with Family (If Family is not around, Then Friends and New Friends can do), It means Turkey and Stuffing! (Stuffing is One of My Favorite Parts of Thanksgiving), and Of Course, Watching The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which not only is My Favorite Tradition but, It is the Official Start of The Holiday Season. Now, I know that There are some people who love Football on Thanksgiving. If I ever had a Discussion about it with Someone who is a Passionate Football Fan, They would probably tell me that 1. It keeps the Family entertained if You just can not handle staring at Your Family Member without nothing to talk about or It is just plain awkward. and, 2. It prevents the Family from Fighting (unless, and God Help You, Your Family roots for Different Teams) Believe Me, I am pretty sure that There are those type of Families Out There and The First Type of Family would be just Funny to watch and observe But, as They say in The News, I digress. and, Finally, There are People who sadly either do not have Family to go to, in which it is better for them to hang out with Friends, and If They do not have Either, that is When They need a Friend or Someone to spend Thanksgiving with. So, Thanksgiving is not the Best for them. and, Finally, There are The Shoppers. Now, in my head, There are two types of People that shop on Thanksgiving. Either those that are Alone with No Family or Friends, so Why not spend your heart out on Gifts and What not, It seems Logical and It helps them. BUT, There are also those who just want to Shop, Just because. or, maybe We can use the “Awkward Family” excuse and Maybe it provides more Entertainment when You can not handle being at Home anymore. The Ones that I do not agree with are “Black-Friday Shoppers” because In My Head, There is nothing that You need at 4 in The Morning. Anyway, My Readers, like Christmas, Thanksgiving is What You make of it. But, If Anything, Do Something Good for Thanksgiving, Help an Elderly Lady if You are Shopping, Shout Loud if You are a Football Fan and Make Sure that “Awkward Family” of Yours does it too (It is More Fun that Way), and Finally Enjoy The Quality Time with The Family because You never know what may happen. Sure, They may be Awkward, a Bit Messed Up, and They are just Funny (and, Fun) to be around, like My Family. But, Enjoy It and Lastly, (all in all) I hope You have a Great Thanksgiving with Lots of Love and Happiness!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t be in such a Hurry that You Skip a Good City, Go Through The City and find out what is inside of it.

The Christianville Spirit: My Kidney Stone Story

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

November 19, 2014-TCS # 425

Hello, My Readers! I can not tell you how much I missed You! I am sorry for My Unusual Absence Last Week but, I am going to Explain about It. So, for Veteran Readers, Do You remember when My Mom had Kidney Stones a couple years ago? Yes, Believe It or Not, I had them too. Yes, that is right; I, Christian Smith-Centeno, 27 Years Old had Kidney Stones! So, Let’s start from The Beginning, so Last Monday, I woke up and started having Pains on My Upper Left Side, It got to be so unbearable that I could not lay on either side, Sit Up, and Do anything without My Left Side Hurting. I thought, “Oh Man, Do I have Kidney Stones?!” because I remember that when My Mom had Kidney Stones, it helped her when I rubbed her on The Lower Back. I looked over to the Phone on My Nightstand and I thought, “It might be Time to call Mom.” Well, I had an Urge to Throw Up and I got up and Got Sick. Afterwards, I thought, “Okay, NOW It’s Time to call Mom” Now, usually  I am Very Healthy and so is The Rest of Smith Family, so It is Very Rare that I get Sick but, when I do get sick, It hits me hard. The Blessing-Curse Price of Being Healthy, I guess. Anyway, My Mom got home and checked me out (My Head temp., Body temp., Rubbed My Back and Belly, because The Pain had moved to My Belly on The Front Side) As My Mom checked me, She told me that She felt a “Hard-as-a-Rock” thing in My Intestines; Constipation, My Mom thought. So, She made me some Chamomile Tea to “Get Things Moving” in My Intestines. I thought to Myself, “I have been Constipated many times and It was never this bad!” I mean, I literally could not keep anything down except The Tea that My Mom was making me. By The Way, The Reason if it was Constipation would be because we PTLSers have an Extra-Long Intestine. After we tried every Method My Mom could think of, It started moving just VERY Slowly. We did try Everything, “Poop Tea” as My Mom calls it (which is that Chamomile Tea, I mentioned before), tried Milk of Magnesia and I threw that up a Second Later, A Heating Pad, A Massage (which really helped) and A Few other things. Thank God, My Mom is a Nurse! And, Understood My Big Fear of going to The Hospital. Things calmed down and I felt like My Intestines were Moving and I fell asleep and Slept until The Next Day. Anyway, Tuesday was Okay, I was able to Eat and Keep things down. My Mom told me that If It “Flares up” again, We would have to go to The Hospital. So, My Mom made me two cups of Chamomile Tea this time with Lemon. Now, I do have to say that I really liked that It had Lemon in it, it made it more willing for me to Drink It. I felt girgglely all day Tuesday and that I assumed was Progress. Well, I woke up on Wednesday Morning (Newsletter Day) and Progress Failed! I had Intense Pain when I got up, We just agreed that It was Time to make “The Call”. So, off to The ER, we went. “I’m Sorry it has to come to This” We told each other, I told her that because normally I would not have gotten to The Level of Being so Sick that I Have to go The Hospital. But, as My Mom said, “It was Time that we need Answers.” But, She had to Keep me calm as She drove me to The Hospital because My Anxiety was going up, and I felt like I was going to get sick because of My Nerves. We walked in and Thank God, there were only a Few People there. We sat for only like 5 Minutes before My Name was called, Again Thank God! “Please Don’t have them give me an IV!” I thought, The Whole Time. So, I went into The Room and got into My Hospital Gown. The Nurses tried to get an IV in Me 3 Times before They finally it. They had to Call in The Special IV Team (“The Big Guns” as My Mom referred to them as), I had a CAT Scan Done, and They gave 4 Different Medicines in My IV. I tried to distract myself by watching The News, I started to grow impatient because I wanted to Go Home, and I started getting Sleepy and I was Out like a Light. Later, The Doctor came in and told us that I had passed a 4 Millimeter Kidney Stone while I was in The ER. I thought, “Did He just say that I passed a Kidney Stone?!”. They did say, however, that There were No More Kidney Stones left in My Body and The Report said that I also was Constipated. After 5 Hours in The ER, They finally sent us Home. Once I was Home, I checked up on The Days Facebook Posts, I took a Nap (which I out like a Light, again) and then, Went to Bed Early. The Days Following The Kidney Stone were Very hard, I did not know what My Limits were in How Much I could Eat or The Dull Pain that was left from The Kidney Stone’s Damage. It did not help that I was afraid that They would come back and I would have to repeat the Same Thing over again. As I write this, I am feeling better, Now With Fewer Episodes of Pain in My Left Side. All in all, It was a Crazy Experience, One Experience that I would never want to have again. I will tell you that a Heat Pad on The Spot and Chamomile Tea does work in helping with Kidney Stones. 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. I am not into Drugs, but I guess You can say I got “Stoned”.

The Christianville Spirit: My Discontent with Halloween

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

November 5, 2014-TCS # 424

Hello, My Readers! Happy November! It is only a Month and a Few Days until My Brother’s Graduation! So Excited! So, On to This Week’s Newsletter! So, I hope that You had a Good Halloween and I hope You were kind to The Kids Trick or Treating. As for Me, I don’t like Halloween and I believe that I should tell you why I do not  like Halloween not just seeing that I write, “I don’t like Halloween” and You just wondering why. Well, My Friends, The Truth is that it is for Many Reasons but, as I realized This Year, it all ties Together. The First Reason I tell People (and, Myself) is that it is because of The Costumes. To Me, In My Head, that sounds a bit Crazy because after all, I “Dress Up like a Northerner” when It Snows. But, We will start with The Root Cause that I found out, Reason #1 that leads to them all. You See, Because of PTLS, I have lack of Depth Perception, In other words, I can’t see very well in 3D. Because of that, when I see Someone with a Scary-looking Mask coming at Me, My Anxiety Level rises, Add The Lack of 3D, and We have some Trouble! Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I like Happy Costumes, without Masks like Disney Characters (This Year, I counted 2 Elsas). Costumes like Santa Claus I can deal with because He represents Happiness and Holiday Cheer. Plus, Adding to Lack of 3D and Costumes, It probably was not a Good Idea that My Dad took My Brother and I into Haunted Houses when We were Kids, (The Sort-of-Less-than-Scary-Kind) namely Fright Fest at Six Flags, One at Sea World, and Van Helsing at Universal Studios. In My Experience, Six Flags was The Most Scary and Van Helsing was not as Bad. So, With This Anxiety about Scary-Looking Figures moving up and down the Streets, comes an Avoidance Factor that I have been doing since I was 5 Years Old. Now, I didn’t mind Halloween when I was younger, according to My Mom, I would find fun Ringing The Doorbell and Walking Around. It did help calm the Nerves when We had a little Street Party on Our Cul-de-Sac during “The Jeff Era.” But, Now a Days, I find that It is Easier to either Stay at Home and Watch TV with The Lights Off in The Front or Go to Barnes & Noble and Read some Geography Books. Honestly, It does feel a Little Lonely because In My Head, It seems like I am the Only One out of My Friends as well as My Brother, who does not like Halloween. It seems like My Friends like Horror Movies and I am the Only One who Loves Romantic Comedies. I am one of those people who would rather skip Halloween and Get Excited about My Favorite Holiday, Christmas. I think It feels Lonely because I wish that I had Someone who also did not like Halloween and Would Support “Avoiding Halloween” with Me. Now, It did help though, that I ran into Someone We Knew who’s Child was “Avoiding Halloween” also. At The End of The Night, I posted on Facebook about it and Surprisingly, There were People who Understood and It made me feel very happy to hear that. A Bonus is that Not only does it help Me in a Self-Expressing Outlet, but It also helps PTLS Members understand their Child or Prepare for It. Now, Who Knows though, I may be writing this all lonely about Halloween and Later on in Life, I may or may not feel this way about it, Maybe My Soulmate may Talk Me Out of It and We may go somewhere in a Couples Costume (but, still Avoiding The Scary Ones). Wishful Thinking, I guess we can call it. All in All, Do Consider those People who do not like Holidays like Halloween and Treat Them Kindly.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Spread Love to Everyone. You never Know Who needs it.

The Christianville Spirit: Catfish Personalities

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

October 29, 2014-TCS # 423

So, Happy Halloween, My Readers! I do not like Halloween. Remember to be Kind to The Kids Trick or Treating and Try Not to be too Scary. Happy Halloween Everyone! Anyway, Do You Remember when I met Nev from Catfish? Well, I have been reading his book, In Real Life. To Give You a Little Background, Nev Schulman got contacted by a Beautiful Women who loved His Art, Because He was a Photographer. Well, they started conversing on Myspace and then, on Facebook. His Filmmaker Friend, Max helped film a Documentary about Nev falling in Love with this girl named Megan on The Internet. To Put It Shortly, Without too many Spoiler Alerts, He ends up going to Her House and She is not who She said she was. My Advice: Watch The Documentary, It is worth it! Anyway, so in Reading Nev’s Book, I have learned quite a bit from It. I have learned about Catfish, Why Catfish “Hook” People, and Why We Fall for The Catfish. The Truth is that Now-A-Days with Today’s Technology and Social Media, We Fail to have Decent Human Interaction. In other words, The Saying goes that if You miss someone or want to Talk to Someone, You can Facebook Message them, Skype them, Snapchat them, Email them, The List goes on..But, No one says to “Just Call Them!” or Call Them and Be Like, “I need to Talk to You, Can We meet at XYZ Place.” Unfortunately, This has an Effect on Our Health and Our Human Need. It is Our Human Need (or Human Nature) to Want to be Wanted. It is Human Nature, to be Appreciated and Loved by Someone Else who is Live, in The Flesh. But, So Many Times, We just figure that If We need Connection, then We can hop on Facebook, Twitter, or What Have You, and Find People to Talk with. However, With that Lack of Connection and Wanting to be Appreciated or The Feeling of Competition to “Friend” Everyone and comes the Thought to Create a Fake Profile to Be Someone Else. After All, You can be Anything You want on The Internet and No One will care, Right? Well, I’m Sorry to Tell You, but No! According to Nev’s Book, An Astounding 83 Million Profiles on Facebook alone are Fake Profiles. So, Why is that? Because, again with The Non-Appreciation and Their Life and/or appearance, may not be that Great and They make up for It by having a Picture of a Prettier-than-Normal “Version” of Themselves. So, That is The Answer to The First Question about Why there are Catfish. So, How do We get “Hooked” by Catfish, Because They say things that are either To-Good-To-Be-True, like that They are a Model or That Something terrible happened to Them to Tug at Your Emotions to Draw You In. In Other Words, They make up a Story about Someone who passed away or an Excuse to Why They could not make it to Meet Them in Person. They always make Excuses or Made-Up Stories so You can’t really see what They are doing until You are Hooked. The Catfish themselves, with The Lack of Love, Connection, or Self-Esteem, Getting all that that attention in an odd way, Make them feel a little better about Their Lives at Home. Of Course, There are Different Types of Catfish, which are The Cyrano Catfish (They seek or Find Love either Intentionally or Unintentionally), Revenge Catfish (The Intention to Hurt Someone), Benevolent Catfish (Very Rare; It usually is to Help Someone), Swindling Catfish (Scamming for Cash and More), Celebrity Impersonators (aka, Wanna-Be Celebrities; People pretending to be Celebrity XYZ), and Finally Everyone Else (in other words, a Fake Profile with The Exact Same Name and Picture as a Friend of Yours). So, Those are The Types of Catfish. It is Amazing to read about how many People are so Unhappy that They feel that They need to Pretend just to get others to Like Them or Pay Attention to Them. I kinda feel bad for them because They are Unhappy with Life. All in all, Don’t Believe Everything that You read on The Internet, do like Nev does, Investigate and Go to The Source with Your Questions.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. People with Good Intentions don’t hide Being Fake. There is No Need, Their Love comes through All Darkness.    

The Christianville Spirit: Professor Christian

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

October 22, 2014-TCS # 422

So, I have an Exciting Event to Tell You about! It actually happened Today. So, Yesterday, My Mom told me that She was going to bring me to Class with Her. You See, Every Now and Then My Mom takes me to Class with Her to show me all that she does and Sometimes, to Introduce me to all her students. She is a Teacher on The Continuing Education Side at Collin College, Considering that She teaches Medical Classes, Anatomy & Physiology as well as Classes that pertain to The Medical Field. Well, My Mom’s Friend needed someone to watch her class while They took their Test. My Mom figured that, Her Class wanted to meet me anyway so, I got Volunteered to sit in and Moderate the Class take their Exam. So, The Minute that I walked down the hallway to The Classroom, Some of The Students (All Women) were so excited to finally meet me. “I’ve heard all about You, Christian!”, “Oh My Gosh!, It’s Him!” They excitedly shrieked. With Every run of Students that My Mom teaches considering that She is a Nurse and I have PTLS (which is Medical-Related), My Mom tells them all about Me and All the Other Children with PTLS, and Mentions This Newsletter. In All Honesty, The Genetics Segment of Her Anatomy & Physiology Classes is My Mom’s Favorite Segment, among many others. Anyway, so I had a lot of Good-Looking Women wanting to Meet Me, including Mary Lee, who was beyond excited to meet me. Now that I think about it, Mary Lee is My Mom’s Teaching equivalent of My #1 Fan, PTLS Member, Lynne Neff. I met Lynne at the PTLS Conference, by the way. Anyway, I introduced myself as “Professor Centeno” and I came in and said Good Morning to Everyone and then, led off with a How I Met Your Mother Joke. I then walked around and Made Sure that Everyone had Their Tests then said, “Okay Guys, You may get started! Good Luck.” While I watched them, I read an Interesting Article on My IPad. It was a TVRL Article about Norway’s Fjords. Lovely! Everyone finished their tests relatively in good time, an Hour and 30 Minutes. It was about a Complicated Medical Matter known as Medical Coding. Most of You Readers may or may not get what I am talking about, If You are Curious, Look It Up. Nurses and Doctors will know exactly what I am talking about. Anyway, After a Good Amount of People finished their Tests, They wanted to Talk to Me, so I stepped out of The Room to Talk to Them a Little Bit. After Nearly Everyone was Done, There was only One Person left. Can’t Blame Her though, We have all been that person Every Now and Then. I think, sometime in High School, I was The Last Person to Finish the Test. To Put It shortly, She got upset that Everyone was Done and I comforted her, saying to Take Your Time and Don’t Stress about It. After a While, She did finish and I am Very Proud of Her for Trying Her Hardest. If I was a Teacher or Professor, That is All I would ask of My Students. Before We Left, I went up to The office to Introduce Myself to Jennifer but, She already knew who I was. So, We talked a little bit and We laughed a little bit about The Directors Name, Dr. Head. I thought that it was Funny and I am sorry that i did not get to meet her in Person. After I got done watching Everyone, My Mom and I got to have Lunch with Mary Lee and got to talk to her more Personally. We had a Great Time hanging out. So, A Little Shout-Out to The Students there who are Reading This, I loved meeting you all. To The Student who brought The Donuts, Thank You! I look forward to maybe teaching a Geography Class, What do You think? All in all, It was Good Class and I had lots of Fun!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Doing Something that You did not think You could do is Pretty Awesome!