Grammar Snob

So, I think I'm a grammar snob. I correct people in my head all the time - but I've been known to make bold corrections in conversation. What a snob I am. Is it better if I always feel bad about needing to do it? I just can't stand it, sometimes - it makes my ears bleed.

Agreeance is not a word. It isn't. It makes me crazy to hear it. And it seems to be becoming its own colloquialism and I'm not sure why. It is not in the classic dictionary (truth be told - it has been added to some online dictionary sites - oh the shame! It is listed in the official "COMMON ERRORS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE" book - online dictionaries (dictionary.com - I mean you) be damned!), and typically when people use it, they are meaning 'agreement' and just getting the word wrong. There are a few blogs out there referencing this term as a new term in the corporate world. Really? I'm guessing someone said it in a big boardroom meeting and no one dared question it. Nevertheless, one of my peeps chose to use it the other day and I asked her to look it up. Now, she knows its not a word - but she also knows it makes me crazy to hear it. Never give those you love such power. Now, she delights in fitting it in wherever possible. Her presentation is priceless. She says it like a cheesy joke, with a pause for the drum beats - ba da bum. And she says it with such pride. It is actually funny. I still hate it.

PLUS, the next day after our word discussion, where we were definitely not in "agreement", another one of my peeps offered that we should 'nip that in the butt'. To which I replied, 'nip it in the what?'. And when she said 'butt' - I started chuckling. I felt like a jerk. Of course, its 'nip it in the bud'. And I had to launch into some explanation about the phrases gardening origins. Snob. Snob. Snob. Don't worry, she gets her revenge regularly, when she, with a sly smile, tells me she is in 'agreeance' with me. And that just 'ain't' right!

PS - Punctuation snobs - who would have a heyday with my writing - I feel your pain!

Blogsample

I spent a lot of time today blog-stalking. Well, maybe not fully stalking - he did advertise a post on facebook...an invitation to all - so maybe just stalking in the sense of he didn't know I was reading all his entries for the past three years. I laughed. I cried. And one specific entry from 2008 changed my perspective of a small struggle I have been experiencing. I read it and I was better for it. Well written, so funny, so sincere, so well-meaning, so observant and an open testimony of Jesus Christ. His beliefs weave seamlessly between college sports, friendly fun and family antics. His words are lovely, of good-report AND praiseworthy. Certainly something to seek after. An amazing Blogsample!

It made me think about blogging - about the things I've chosen to express about my life (though not in a loooong time), and I realized that my testimony of Jesus Christ is fully missing from my writing. I thought of lots of excuses - its so personal, no one wants to read that - and doesn't my testimony shine through some of my actions? Why have I left this out? I read through all of these entries about my 'alien' life - and I kept it so surface and silly - I neglected to mention the sustaining power in the experience. Never once did I mention the many moments I felt attended by angels or the unique and specific and wonderfully calming experience I had in preparation for their arrival - or the sheer volume of charitable people who supported and uplifted me and whose purpose in my life can only be described as they were 'on the Lord's errand'. Such tremendous joy, such tremendous sorrow, such tremendous growth. I felt the buoying and supporting and healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ - in a way I never knew existed. I was blessed - even though I was so sourly not at my best - a great deal of the time. I do look back on that time with some regrets - for specific actions or arguments - and for missing moments and opportunities when I could have done it better. Poor parents - does that ever go away?

In looking back, its results were good - everyone moved on to better and greener pastures - and miracles happened - one after another after another. I know of miracles. I do. I'm still searching and defining the post-alien world - its been 2 and a half years- and that 14 months still stands as the most life changing period of my life - there is definitely a before and after. I wonder for myself in this world that still at times feels 'alien' - if miracles can still happen - if they can still happen to me. I've been privy to great things - its hard to imagine there could still be more - but there has to be. There is. I know I have continued purposes in this life. I know there is a plan. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World and He is the one to save me from all of the things that bind me. I know His Atonement is not solely about forgiveness, it is about relief and love and sustaining. I feel priviledged to be able to feel and recognize the Spirit of my Heavenly Father. I know how to hear Him. I just have to Listen.

This testimony is what is missing from these musings. I've never been embarassed by this knowledge, in fact, I've always sought to share it and sought to help others and myself understand it. And, thanks to some Facebook advertising and the beautiful musings and messages of a fellow believer - I know I want my life in print to relay and weave my testimony between my pop culture obsessions and my family silliness - as seamlessly as it is truly woven in the fabric of my life.