Research Paper Draft 1: All Hallow's Eve

Rebekah Robbins

REL2100-01M

Ms. Spring

1 November 2010

All Hallow’s Eve

On the evening of October 31^st, children around America dress up in costumes and trawl the local neighborhoods for gifts of candy, nuts, and small toys. The night is devoted to fun and games and – if the child or adult is so inclined – to pranks and tricks of both well-meaning and malicious nature. Billions of dollars are spent in America over the course of several weeks for that one night of enjoyment, that one night of abandonment – abandonment of inhibitions, of accountability, and of identity. This night of ‘go as you aren’t’ is the holiday known as Hallowe’en.

Hallowe'en Question

What are your views on Hallowe'en? Should Christians have anything to do with it? Should we "avoid all appearance of evil" and denounce it? Or do we ignore the pagan origins as we do with Christmas? What do you think?

I recently wrote a research paper about the religions behind the holiday; not in depth, as it was only a 5-page paper, but it was still interesting to learn and write about. I will be posting that paper later on.

I simply wonder about Christians' views about secular holidays: do we think about what we're doing in certain traditions? Does it take an informed decision before we can say that what we are doing is not sinful? Is it sinful to participate in these traditions unless we have made an informed decision? It's something to think about...

Check out http://tiny.cc/48nom to see what one person has to say about Hallowe'en.

CVS/Pharmacy:Stuff For Free! And $7 In Cash!

I went by CVS/Pharmacy on my way home from school. Spending exactly $2 out of pocket, I got:

(1)12-pack of Scott Xtra Soft toilet paper, (1)8.3 oz. bottle of Dulcolax, (1)Revlon Lipstick, and (2)Right Guard gel deodorant.

Used $19 in coupons, $2 in cash, and $9.99 in Extra Care Bucks for a gain of $19 in ECB.

Saving $27.03 With Coupons

Today, Mom and I went shopping at Publix. We purchased:

Old Stuff #2

Here's another old song I wrote a couple years ago. Country is also a music genre that I generally dislike, but the rhyming, singing monster inside my head doesn't always cooperate...

I'm sure some of you will recognize the truck that is mentioned here.

Rejoice!

Rejoice in Sufferings

Matt 5:11-12 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Old Stuff #1

OK, so this was a song that I wrote at 1 in the morning a few years ago, after I woke up with the lyrics of the chorus running through my head over and over. It's funny, I hate, absolutely loathe girl-bands, but this is most definitely a girl-band song.
Here's the song, Just Me.

Book Reviews

I've been reading a lot of marketing books over the past few months, and I thought you might enjoy hearing about some of them:

Vacation Pros and Woes

I just got back from what I'm calling my Spring Break. We went to west Georgia. A friend of Dad's owns a cabin up there on around ten acres of land.

Opportunities

I'm currently a Marketing Intern at a software company. The position and work is somewhat new to me, so I've been struggling to keep up with all the new information being poured into my brain. My brother uses the rather vivid analogy of trying to drink from a fire hose.
The thing that keeps me going is that I know when the internship is over, I can go home to my family and put what I've learned to use. I thank God that I've been given this opportunity, but boy, am I going to be happy to go home!

Reality Check

There's nothing quite like a mother to produce the reality check that's been lurking around the corner for some time. I mean, you like to think that you're doing well with your life, that you're accomplishing your goals, that you're completely satisfied witht the way things are...Yeah, right. Mothers - my mother, anyway - punch through that self-imposed illusion like Superman punching through a wall of red jello.

No, she's not looking for me to produce grandkids. No, she's not getting all over me about finishing college. All she wants me to do is be all I can be.

No. She doesn't want me to enter the military.

She wants me to get in shape, lose my excess weight, take responsibility for my own health, become more autonomous, and set and accomplish real and reasonable goals. All she really wants of me is my maturity.

That's a reality check for anyone of any age. For myself, at the age of 23, it seems doable, but still scary as all get out. Still, it's what I need; I guess good mothers never stop knowing what we need.

Thanks, Mom.