2 million dollars?!?!?

Today was spent at Cleveland Browns Stadium. After surviving the pat down and the long trek to our seats the game began. The Browns were playing the Raiders (not of much interest to me, I'm more of a Steelers girl) and my only goal was to attempt to stay warm. That lasted for about 2 quarters, which is actually like 27 hours in football time, but something besides the biting cold was upsetting me even more...

Before the game started I asked my dad how much money NFL players made per year. He casually responded, "Like 1 or 2 million dollars if you play for a bad team, even more if you play for a good one". I more and more I thought about that the more and more upset I became. I finally lost it when they were doing a tribute to 2 men that served on the New York Fire Department and helped save people during September 11. According to the NYC.gov website their firefighters make an average of $60,000 a year.

How absolutely insane is it that the men that devote their lives to rescuing people make about 1/25 of what men who are good at tossing a ball make? It's ridiculous. These men are good at a sport and make more money than 99% of other jobs. Doctors, lawyers, teachers: the people who make the world go round make a fraction of what professional sports players make. We are the ones who have made it this way, that's what really hurts. Guys in college play and practice just as hard and don't earn a cent all while going to school. Some pros never even went to college, they are stupid as rocks and earn a painful amount of money.

Half way through the game the Browns were handing out a scholarship to a college age girl. It was for $10,000 which seems quite generous. But in reality, that's 1/200 OF WHAT ONE PLAYER MAKES IN ONE SEASON. That's not right, not at all.

The question I have is, would people stop watching if the players only made $500,000 a year? Hell no. Would people no longer be interested in sports? Hell no. Would the world crumble if NFL players made less money. Hell no.

What happened to doing something just for the love of it?

Winter Break Part II

So...I have survived yet another Christmas. It was filled to the brim with cookies, strange church services, insane family members, trips to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and of course ham and cheese potatoes. A success I would venture to say.

I have zero plans and zero things that have to be done for the rest of the time off. The snow is falling, I'm snug in bed with a cup of tea, and all of my house is quiet. Isn't life grand?

Winter Break Part I

I just spent the last half hour listening to Christmas music and laying with my head up against my sliding glass door watching the snow glisten on the trees. Then I ate some eggs. A perfect morning.

Winter break has been wonderful thus far. Tuesday involved some tasty Lebanese food, a little Christmas shopping, and a pretty funny film. Wednesday was cookie baking day! Followed by the best winter date ever. Thursday involved a surprise trip to Columbus to rescue a stranded friend. Friday was a delicious lunch with mom and visitng some old friends. Saturday involved chopping down the Christmas tree, a walk in the winter wonderland that is my backyard, and some much overdue grocery shopping.

It has been a pretty great week. There is nothing I have to do; no deadlines, no papers, no awkward small talk with adults I don't actually like, just what I want to do. I feel like such a kid, it's the best.

I am an incredibly lucky girl.

"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you must then have the courage to live it."

This was posted on the board when I walked in the room to take my psychology final today. I've been thinking about it since.

If you are lucky enough to find something that you love, you have to be willing to fight for it. To think that some people have found that something, but don't have the courage to stick up for it is a shame. I refuse to let that happen to me. Granted, I haven't found that something yet, but when I do I will fight for it. To have the opprotunity to find something you love, genuinely love, is one of the luckiest things in life, but you have to be brave enough to pursue it.

I now know the history of Lebanon and the importance of sticky ends in recombinant DNA, but it's things like that quote that really matter. The other things won't mean a thing, if you aren't passionate about the life you have.

That's my goal, to be passionate about my life, every single aspect of it.

Life has been busy. The kind of busy where you don't have time to brush your hair, let alone update the ol' blog. But all of that is coming to an end soon. Why? you may ask. Because today was my last day of classes. Sure, I have to survive a week of finals, but classes are done! No more dragging myself out of bed at 7 am to attend molecular and cell biology.

Soon I will be ready to devour 21 days of nothingness. All I have to do is survive this week. Word on the street is that there's Nakama sushi at the end, so that shouldn't be too hard.

Winter break is going to be a delicious mix of making cookies, wrapping presents, eating tasty tasty food, and spending time with the people I love. Sounds pretty perfect to me.