By Tea-o

The Perfect One...

2011-11-26T12:54:00.005-05:00

I've finally met the perfect male. It only took 40 years, but now I know! He is everything I've ever dreamed of: sweet, devoted, content, adorably cute. Even his morning breath doesn't bother me!! :) Perfect inside and out. Everyone who has met him, loves him. Even his name is perfect. Bruster. Just like my mother's maiden name, only hers is spelled Brewster. He has been my constant companion for the past six weeks and I don't want to give him up. Alas, my days in the sun (as they say) are coming to an end. He has to go back home on Monday. I've been trying to convince myself that I won't cry; I can see him again from time to time. But I know I will. At least I'll always have memories of those long walks every day and slobbery kisses to sustain me.

Thank God for spring break!

2011-03-13T10:03:00.003-04:00

I have been living in a utopic wonderland this past week, pretending I don't have a responsibility in the world! It all came crashing back hard yesterday when I had to start thinking again of all the things I have to take care of for school. 12 weeks to go if anyone is counting...and I am definitely counting them down! My heart is heavy when I think of how I longed for this year to be and how it has really turned out. That's the topic for another day.
I spent spring break week in Charleston, SC, visiting a friend who moved there from here last fall. She asked me after they moved into their house in December if I could come help her decorate and I just didn't have time over Christmas, so I figured why not spring break? It was so early this year. I tried to find a mission trip to Haiti or the Dominican I could join for the week, but coming up empty there, I decided to spend it selfishly. I just had to get out of Dodge. Talk about a cool city! I loved it. Some of the oldest buildings and houses are in Charleston, originally Charles Towne. It has a lovely view of the Atlantic and I saw some dolphins within moments of going down the pier. The Waterfront Park there is lovely with walkways lit by carriage lamps, symmetric gardens and fountains. Several people were playing in them, but this southern girl found it way too cold for that! Kate and I visited the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon (240 years old!) where George Washington came in 1791. We did a very touristy carriage tour of the town with a very knowledgable guide. We went into the Nathaniel Russel house with the most amazing mahogoney freestanding spiral staircase. It is so sturdy that the house could fall down around it without bringing it down. I LOVED the architecture of with all its intricacies...modern architecture with all of its clean lines can't compare! So many of the homes have one-of-a-kind designs in their ironwork. That alone was worth the trip!
The city market has some uniquely Charleston souvenirs and we made a couple of trips there. We ate at some locally recommended places to try the goods. The chocolate pudding at Hominy Grill truly is something worth writing home about (it was featured on some Food Network show) and SNOB--Slightly North of Broad--restaurant had excellent local cuisine. The soup and salad at Five Loaves has such unique pairings that we each tried three samples of soup (who can choose one from the seven specials?) with our salad. The turkey sandwich was stacked so high I had to take half of it out to take a bite! We didn't make it for dinner to McCrady's, a restaurant owned by local chef of reknown, but that's on the agenda for next time! There is so much more to see and do...I can't wait! BTW, I would definitely recommend taking Amtrak. I had never ridden the train in this country but found it to be very roomy and I couldn't have driven for the price of my ticket.

David Crowder Band "How He Loves"

2010-12-26T21:01:00.003-05:00

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all.

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

This song really gets it. The metaphors used here really speak to my heart. I have felt like I'm being tossed about by a hurricane lately when reality is, He is in charge of all my circumstances and is using them for His glory. If I could only grasp that! If you could...how would that change our lives?

Change that...4th Grade Now!

2010-09-05T21:52:00.005-04:00

Now that school has started and chaos reigns, I have a computer again but no time to update!! Always a trade-off somewhere. After the mid-summer switcheroo to teaching 4th grade the stress ratcheted up a few notches. I have a great team to work with, though, and that has made all the difference. They have definitely kept my head above water where I would have otherwise drowned before the school year ever started. I love the atmosphere of the school and the philosophy, but the learning curve is a bit steep for an old lady whose brain capacity has been on overload for weeks. I feel badly for the kids who have to suffer through this year of trial and error with me, but then again, what year isn't trial and error?? Guess it will keep me humble anyway! At some point I will have funny stories to tell, but for now, at least you know I'm still alive. And working!! :)

Third Grade, Here I Come!

2010-06-17T21:32:00.002-04:00

While I was visiting Iowa, I received a cryptic phone call from the school secretary. She said to give her a call as she had a question about ordering furniture for my classroom. This came during the last day of school talent show when my phone was on silent so I checked messages once all the kids were gone for the year. Amazing how drained I felt and I wasn't even there for the school year! Anyway, when I called she asked if I'd prefer desks or tables in my room, which, by the way, was a third grade class!!! Yippee!! Of all the openings, third or fourth would have been my first pick for something different without going into complete coronary failure. I chose tables since I always do group work anyway. I also got phone numbers for other third grade teachers so we could talk shop. We are planning to get together in the next couple of weeks so I can get teacher's manuals and an idea of how/when they do things. The teachers at Suncoast work as a team, and I am so very excited to be part of a team again. I began going to garage sales getting materials for a classroom library right away. If you know of any good places to find books for third graders cheap, let me know! More to come...

Road Weary

2010-06-17T20:22:00.002-04:00

I got home from a two-and-a-half week trip to Iowa that could have gone on longer! I should have gotten home a week earlier, but upon return to North Carolina I no longer had any desire to sit in a car and drive. So I stayed put for a few days.
I'll back up. My trip began May 28 with a drive to Atlanta to visit my dad and step mom. No sense in just driving through when I could see them for the first time in a year. I stayed Saturday and Sunday, continuing on to North Carolina on Monday. I got to go to a race with my dad for the first time in my life that I can remember. (I don't think the trips in my infancy count since I don't have any recall of those myself and must rely on my parents accounts of those!) While the car itself didn't perform its best, it still gave me a glimpse into how my dad's life has been spent. We left for the shop to get the car at 7:00 AM and my stepmom rescued me from the race at 7:00 PM; Dad got home around midnight. I introduced them both to Teavana, a loose tea store where I could spend way more money than one should ever contemplate on such a staple, and we came out with lighter wallets and tantalizing treats for our tastebuds. We only drank about three cups each that night...good thing some of it was green tea!
I drove to North Carolina to meet up with the Ocheltrees on Monday, Memorial Day. It was an easy day's drive (only a little over six hours) and we went out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Diana's job teaching 5th grade next year and my 3rd grade position. We are super-excited to be in self-contained classrooms! We had to be up early the next morning to begin the long haul to Iowa. Diana had plotted the route through West Virginia (thus the Appalachian Mountains), into Ohio, across Indiana, Illinois and finally to Iowa. The drive on Tuesday was beautiful as we wound through the hills and mountains. It was a long day of driving, but we stopped at the Booker T. Washington National Memorial about a couple of hours into the drive as we had both taught using his autobiography. Back in the car to just across the Indiana border at a motel around 9:00 PM. We were back on the road by 8:30 the next morning, not enough time for either of our tired old bodies to forget the long hours and happily get back into the position. We did have time to stop and get out of the car for lunch along the way and that helped. We pulled into the Williams' drive around 3:30.
The Williams' are such gracious hosts if you ever happen to be in need of one in the Iowa City area. They invited a few teacher friends over for dinner so that we could visit in a relaxed atmosphere in case the opportunity didn't arise in the next couple of days. I spent the next day at the school getting ready for graduation that night. It should have been a simple procedure of putting the powerpoint onto the computer at Grace where graduation would take place, but alas, simple it was not. Suffice it to say that I spent the day recruiting others to try and help figure out why the durn thing wasn't working properly. In the end, we had to do everything the old fashioned way, but Rob Iglehart was such a good sport about it all, including when my remote quit working and I had to wave at him each time I needed the slide advanced. Oh well! I had aimed for a thirty minute talk (give or take) but fifty minutes into it I finally wound down. :) Guess I had a lot to cram in there from the past year! Saturday I was able to meet with a couple of dear friends before having to pack up to leave Sunday noon.
Back on the road, this time with Jacob Henkle (former student) in tow as he was going to NC to visit with the Ocheltrees for ten days. We dropped Jonathan off in Wheaton, IL, with his grandparents. My socks were blessed off (again!) because Mrs. Ocheltree is a retired third grade teacher and Diana and I were able to help ourselves to her vast supply of teaching resources. We crammed in the stuff (we had more room now that Jonathan's suitcase was out of the car!) and headed for Indiana again. We stayed in the Fort Wayne area, arriving around 11:00 PM. Our road weariness was really beginning to show as we decided to try to sleep in until 8:00 the next morning, but I was wide awake before 7:00. I didn't get up out of sheer obstinance. We were on the road by 9:30 and the longest day of driving EVER commenced. While beautiful, some of those mountain roads are winding and slow going, so we didn't make it back to the O'tree homestead until 11:00 PM. Shoot me now. Like I was going to get in that car the next morning and drive another six hours to Atlanta? Right!
So I stayed in North Carolina until Friday relaxing and going with the flow. The furthest we went was an hour and a half to Appomattox Court House, VA, to see the Civil War site. And it was worth it! I realized I wasn't ever going to really feel like getting into the car for the remaining 14 hours until home, so I had better just get started. So Friday I headed for Atlanta and really wanted to pull off and take a nap about two hours into the trip! I compromised and got some snacks and continued on down the road. I barely even got slowed down by rush hour traffic (which is REALLY bad in Atlanta, unlike in Iowa where people only complain about something they have no concept of!) and made it to Dad's around 6:30 or 7:00. Dad was at a race again (I was over the need to go) so Lori and I hung out, planning what project we'd attack in the next couple of days. I had a great time painting and organizing with her over the weekend. Monday night she treated me to some great reflexology and a bio-cleanse. I felt relaxed despite the nasty toxins she pulled out of my body with that handy little machine. Ewww! We went to dinner at Applebee's before I was back on the road again Tuesday morning. I had a little over eight hours of driving before home, so I drove directly to Bible study as I wouldn't have time to go home and then back to Sarasota in time. Home literally never felt so good as my bed that night!

I'm a REAL TEACHER!

2010-04-21T12:03:00.004-04:00

I've been running things through my mind that could be posted, but nothing seemed too exciting or newsworthy. I know it has been more than a month, but things just don't happen as often when you don't get out much. I could resurrect a story or two from Thailand but in a different setting, the telling isn't nearly as effective. However, I do have a story to tell that it looks like God has been working on for a while now.
A year ago while getting ready to move to Florida, my mom's friend, Sharon, told her about a friend of hers, Wendy, who lives in Sarasota. Wendy's kids attend a charter school called Sarasota Suncoast Academy. Sharon gave me Wendy's phone number and said I should call and ask her about it. I didn't have other leads, so I called and Wendy graciously offered to take my resume in to the principal if I'd email it to her. Needless to say, I updated it and emailed it the next morning. Wendy forwarded it to the principal with a note of recommendation (remember, she didn't really know my or my teaching abilities!). The sad, sad part of the story is that the principal had literally just filled the vacancies at Suncoast that day! He did say that he would be interested in meeting me once I got settled down here. Oh well, file that away.
Fast forward a few months. The first of October, despite STILL not having my Florida teaching certificate, I decided what the heck, I'd call and touch base anyway. I needed to go by the school and fill out some paperwork to sub but they weren't opposed to me subbing unlike Sarasota County. I stopped by, filled out some forms, didn't get to meet the principal as things were pretty busy, the admin assist was also pulled in several directions, so I left on the verge of tears thinking I had just wasted my time, wondering what in the world God wanted for me. Fine. If He doesn't want me to teach anymore, then I'll wait. The next day I got a call from the school asking me to come sub. HA! I was floored.
Fast forward again. I have subbed at Suncoast probably five times this year (not much!), really like what I have seen, and found that there were going to be several openings. I talked to the admin about the possibility of teaching there in the fall. Would I need to go through the county or just the school? Since it's a charter school, I didn't need to go through the county. PTL. She had my resume, so she'd just put a flag on it that indicated my interest (particularly in 4th or 5th grades) and said they would be interviewing in April. I got called the last week of March to set up an April 19, 6:00 PM interview time. Not to panic, plenty of time to prepare. Long story longer, I panicked! :) When I called to get the particulars about the interview, found out there were 17 being interviewed for three positions (that was fewer than I originally had been told) and seven on the interview team, I lost it. I thought there was no way I would get a job forgetting that God can do anything, with or without me!
Travis spent a lot of time getting my outfit just right (guess we should have taken a photo!) and fixing my hair. (When it's crunch time, she always fixes my hair. She's completely AR about it and I figure oh, well...it's curly! What can you do?) I even borrowed a pair of her pointy-toed shoes! I had run through all kinds of possible questions and answers to prepare, but they came up with one that wasn't even remotely on the radar. I have completely blanked out the question and my answer! I was honest and said, "I didn't see that one coming!", took a drink of water and made something up... :) On the whole, it went well. I asked a few questions at the end and even made them run late--nuts! The principal said they'd contact me next week to let me know. After weeks of waiting for the interview and a year of waiting for a job, what's another week? NOTHING. NO WORRIES.
That's the story I was planning to tell you, with the update to follow next week when I heard back. But God had a different version. I got a phone call THIS MORNING at 9:00 AM offering me a position for next year. I don't know what I'll be teaching, or what salary I'll be making, but I don't care!! And I have four more days of subbing there lined up so I can meet more staff and get to know the system. I am so stoked I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. YEAH, GOD!!!

I'm officially a teacher again...finally!

2010-03-08T09:37:00.004-05:00

Only two years in the making (one month short of!), my Florida state teaching license was granted a few weeks ago. To say this was a rather painful process might just be the understatement of the year. I don't know how so many mistakes could be made in processing just one person's paperwork, but happen they did!
I applied for this license right after spring break in '08 when I came to visit Florida with Trav and Paul. On the application I had to list licenses currently held (I have three others). When I got back the original paperwork from the Department of Ed. it said I was eligible for my Florida license once I got a job in Florida and finished a few other small details, one being taking a teacher's exam. Needless to say, I thought it strange since I had to take the NTE before getting my original license upon graduation from college, but new state, new requirements. I filed it away until I was ready to move and apply.
Over the summer I applied for several positions so I had to refer to the document several times and each time I read it, I got a little more miffed. The icing on the cake was that I couldn't apply to even substitute in Sarasota County (where I live) because I didn't already have my license. This seems discriminatory to me, so I finally called the DoE to complain. During this conversation, I mention the three other licenses I have from other states and she says, "We don't have record of those. Could you fax those over?" You've got to be kidding. I fax them over and several weeks later I get a letter stating that I AM eligible for my Florida license now...once I fork over the $60 FBI background check fee, which I don't have!!! Some friends in Iowa sent me the money in January and I went to be fingerprinted again (third time since moving here). At last, in February the long awaited paper came in the mail. I think it should be hung in a museum or something. :) To add insult to injury, for who knows what reason, it is backdated as issued in July of 2009 which means I have to pay the fee to have it re-issued six months sooner than I really had it. I lost the income of not being able to sub those six months because of the mess up on their end and they have the nerve to date it as though I was able to sub all that time. GRRRRR. I am grateful that hoop has officially been cleared, at least for the next four-and-a-half years!

We're Cruisin'!

2010-02-13T11:27:00.007-05:00

I came across this special rate for a Disney cruise to the Bahamas last September about a week after Gabe had mentioned that he'd like to go on a Bahamain cruise for his birthday sometime. Coincidence? Definitely not! It was a kids go free for every adult fare and what do you know? There are four kids and Trav, Paul, Mom and me, so for all of us we got a GREAT deal. It was decided that this would take the place of Christmas and birthday presents for this year. The problem would be keeping it a secret until February! (You can read more about it at my sister's blog www.pracharfamily.blogspot.com.)
Anyway, the ship was amazing! It had 10 decks, 3 pools (one with a waterslide) and 3 hot tubs, 4 big restaurants and several smaller, a movie theater and a theatre for plays, an arcade, several kids areas, a spectacular workout area/spa. I read somewhere about mini-golf though I never actually found it. We explored high and low. The kids loved the Oceaneer Lab, one of the kids areas where they could go in and participate in different activities, watch movies, play video games, do experiments, etc. A favorite was the video games and making flubber. We watched four movies in the theater (a HUGE treat!) over the course of the trip, partly because we got "rained in"; we couldn't make port at the island the second day so we had to stay on the ship. That was the only disappointment. The staff of the ship did such a nice job on Gabe's birthday that I know he will never forget it. I got him a custom T-shirt that said "Gabriel 13" on it and a flashing "It's my birthday" button. (I knew he'd enjoy a little extra attention! :) Everyone said happy birthday to him. He got to choose our activities for the day, thus two movies. The food for the trip was amazing, though everyone's favorite was not having to cook, plan, shop or clean up! The kids want to know if we'll be doing this again in April for our birthday (Trav and me). HA! We would all recommend it. Talk about memories. We had a wonderful time. And due to the stormy weather, I didn't even get sunburned!

A Heart Like Mine--or His?

2010-01-31T16:32:00.002-05:00

With Valentine's Day approaching and all the inner turmoil in my life, I've been doing a lot of reflecting on my heart. Have you ever felt like me and the Apostle Paul who said, "I am the chief of sinners"? I find myself locked in this inner struggle most days, wrestling with my desires to just really let what I am thinking come gurgling to the surface. Most of the time the object of my intense desire to receive all of my wisdom is my mother. I get so angry with her for her nit-picking, so what do I do? Nit-pick. I hate how she is hypercritical and judgmental. So I become just like her. She is constantly asking questions about why I did this or that to read my motives. So I assume hers are evil and put another brick in the wall to keep her from seeing my true heart because I figure I must protect myself from being ripped to shreds. I have psychoanalyzed her from various angles and decided that she needs help.

And then the realization comes that I don't like these traits in her because I don't like them in myself. I do not have the ability to overcome them in my own strength or I would have wrestled them to the ground and put a chokehold on them long ago. How do we become such practiced diagnosticians on others and miss the glaring evidence in our own lives that we suffer from the same ailments? I hate the mirror these days because not only do I not like who I see reflected there physically (I don't even recognize myself most of the time!), I DON'T want to see into my own heart. Talk about dark. I spend waaayyy too much time trying to cover things up instead of allowing the Great Physician to take out the problem by dealing with the cause. Sin. My pride keeps me from being healed. I need a "heart" transplant and instead of agreeing to the procedure, I fight it and think I can take care of myself a little better and put off the inevitable a little longer...when all the while, if I would just put myself into His capable hands, He would deal with what I can't. It all comes down to resting and trusting, both of which seem to be absent from my vocabulary.

A heart like Yours, my one desire.
Do your work, Refiner's Fire.
~Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

2009-12-14T22:00:00.003-05:00

I have been storming the gates of Heaven asking for a job for months now, seemingly with no response. I reached the end of my rope last Tuesday when I finally decided to just take my resume by to the principal at Suncoast despite not hearing back from him. I thought surely in person… but I arrived and got the stone wall. I left five minutes later choking back tears. I just told God that I didn’t care anymore WHAT it was so long as I had a job. If He wanted me to give up teaching, fine. Travis actually had a lead for me at one of the DoH offices. I can do that.
The next day I got a call from the principal at Suncoast asking for me to sub on Thursday. I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry! Travis went to her staff Christmas party that evening and one of the ladies that goes to her church nonchalantly says to her that she needs a communications/PR type person yesterday; does Trav know anyone? Yes, as a matter of fact… could I come interview Thursday morning before I go sub?? You’ve got to be kidding me!!! Why not? Long story longer, I sat down with the owner and her two other employees for 40 minutes and they felt like I was an answer to their prayers not knowing that they are an answer to mine! Basically I would get to use a combination of the skills I’ve learned through teaching journalism, working at my church and in communications. And the beauty of it is this is for an interior design firm! I LOVE aesthetically pleasing environments! Only God.
So I open up my devotional Friday morning (from the Father’s Heart by Charles Slagle, now out of print) to a reading titled “Your Stronghold of Security”. Here it is:

Persistent Seeker,
Are you seeing it now? The whole time you have been bombarding heaven with prayers that seemed to go unanswered, I have been at work. All the while you were questioning, I was quietly healing, restoring, and rearranging.
But you needn’t feel guilty over the lashings of your flesh and mind that have occurred in this process. Even these have worked for your good; they have deepened your capacity to understand My heart and character.
For instance, you have learned a vital lesson about My sovereignty. Now you are seeing that the phrase “the sovereignty of God” is not an escape clause nullifying My promises. My sovereignty is your stronghold of security! Not only do I fulfill My commitments, but I do exceedingly above and beyond all you ask or think or imagine.
Yes, I do keep you guessing sometimes as to how I will answer your prayers—but that is because I AM a Person, not a principle to be manipulated. I AM faithful and reliable, but hardly predictable. Predictability is a characteristic of law and principle, not life and personality. Now you will sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and know what you are singing about!

I think it goes without saying that I was sobbing by the time I had gotten two sentences in. What a confirmation from God that He is in control, faithful, and GOOD. My depth of knowing has gone one step deeper. I am so grateful.

One of those days...weeks...months???

2009-12-04T19:13:00.002-05:00

I don't know how I ever managed to have a job and a life; I think one has always suffered at the price of the other. Until recently the job has won out over the life. I know in my head all about balance but somehow don't seem to be able to achieve it in reality. As a person given to extremes, it is my natural tendency to go full throttle in one direction and forget that there are other points on the compass so to speak. Then, when I get burned out I'm ready for a change. I like change...but probably because I have no balance between what I do and who I am. How do I ever arrive at the center of the compass? I know it is a spiritual journey, but I'd really like a road map to chart my progress. Spinning my wheels gets old quickly. I'd like to slowly introduce work back into my life in order to feel like I didn't have to work 24/7. Why do I feel like I have to work 24/7 in order to do my best anyway? At what point is enough enough and the rest is up to God?? Not that any of that is applicable in my current unemployed state, but in the grand scheme of things...These are deep thoughts for a Friday night after a week of no work. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T20:09:00.002-05:00

Our Thanksgiving began when I took the kids to Busch Gardens on Tuesday for the day. They got the whole week out of school (yippee!) so we had a great time since not many people were there. We were able to get onto rides quickly with the short lines. The highlight was that Holden had shot up a couple of inches and was able to ride the Shiekra. (Side note: if you are not familiar with this roller coaster, you should look it up on the BG website; it is one of the top 5 coasters in the country. It makes you shriek!!! I think they should rename it the shrieka.) They have cameras on each of the major rides and the picture of Riley (mouth smiling but open in a slight scream), Gabe (silly grin), Holden (terrified grimace) and me (full on screaming...tonsils would be showing if I had any!) is priceless. Except I didn't have the $20 they wanted for the photo, so I will just have to make sure it is embedded in my memory. We were planning to stay until it closed at 6:00 but it began raining for the second time around 4:00, so we called it a day. Afterall, we had to go home and pack for the trip to Alabama since we were leaving at 7:00 on Wednesday morning.
We began our eleven hour trip to Birmingham a little late since Travis had forgotten her purse and they had to go back home to pick it up. That put is leaving 45 minutes late by the time they were ready to go. We met them at the interstate to save the time it would take to drive back to our house and by then it was POURING rain. We had to drive 50-55 for the first couple of hours. We were all breathing easier once we had passed through the torrent. We both were thanking God for His provision of new tires on both my car and the van because there were plenty of opportunities for slipping and spinning; we saw several people off the road. I confess to laughing at the speed traps that were a bit of a waste of time since it was impossible to speed!! We made three stops on the way and hit stop-and-go traffic twice: once outside Atlanta and once near Birmingham.
We were having Thanksgiving with the Johnsons, friends from Agape Flights. They also left Agape over the summer and Harvey got a job in Birmingham. He was interviewed the week of Labor Day and they were gone the following weekend. Needless to say, we didn't have time to grieve. The kids have been counting down to go see them since the day they left. Now that we are here, I don't know how they are going to deal when we have to leave!! (Or me for that matter!) Who knows when we will be able to see each other again. It is cooler up here and we got to enjoy the fall colors as well. This will adequately supply the seasons we are "missing" in Florida. (Let the record state that I am NOT missing them...especially that cold one.) This is plenty of cold for me. We have a fire going right now and it is nice and warm just like Florida!!
Despite some of the surface difficulties I am experiencing currently, i.e.: no job, I have much to be thankful for. I have a family who supports and loves me and encourages my walk with Christ. I have no debt (I do owe my mom some money...) and a car with new tires. I have a house near the beach even! I still have lots of hair, even if it is starting to grey! I have friends all over the world and the freedom to go visit them as soon as I have saved up enough money. I now have a teaching certificate from the state of Florida so that I can start making more money. I have been given a Bible study group to participate in and to challenge my beliefs. I have more than I need materially. I have the joy of laughing with my kids as we watch a movie together tonight. God is so good to me.

Therapy Needed

2009-11-03T10:24:00.004-05:00

I need therapy...blog therapy and then some! I have been able to sub more in the past couple of weeks due to the swine flu making the rounds so for that I am grateful. It is difficult to get up every morning and not have something to pour myself into. I have made great progress on projects that I haven't had time to do for the past three + years and it is nice to see things get accomplished in that realm. However, as a doer, it is not always enough. Why is it that some people get their sense of self from the things they do rather than who they are? I know what God says about me and yet it must not have penetrated to my heart because at the end of the day I feel like a failure if I am totally honest. (I have to get that thought out of my head so I can't ruminate on it any longer!) How to actually take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ appears to be the work I should be investing in. I covet your prayers for victory in this area and for direction! A job as a side result would be great... Hopefully I'll have new insights soon to share.

Life Lessons

2009-09-11T12:12:00.005-04:00

I've been composing different posts in my head for the past several weeks. I know that doesn't make up for the fact that none of them have magically appeared here, but know that I am constantly thinking about what to share and lessons to learn. I've been way too introspective (in a depressed sort of way) to write anything that would benefit anyone--self included! Needless to say, God has been faithful.
I've thought several times about going to the beach to walk instead of up to the fitness center to use the treadmill or elliptical. Today I actually did it. I went at 9:00 AM so I wouldn't get fried, but got sun anyway! As I looked out over the beach, mostly deserted but some sun-worshippers were there already, the blue water crashing against the shore just spoke hope to my heart. I hurried down and began walking. I was leaning a bit down hill toward the ocean so that it felt like one leg was longer than the other, but I thought it would even out on the return trip. I was reminded that you have to walk/run in the right area of sand or you will: 1. get wet because you are too close to the water; 2. slip and slide and fight the sand; or 3. trip over the debris washed up. (Not that I had a problem with any of those.) And of course, this led me to think of the poem "Footprints". Now I do think this particular work has been a bit overused, but indulge me for a moment. I observed all of the footprints scattered along the coastline as I went, but many were gone when I returned. How brief our impact on this earth if we aren't building on the rock that lasts! The wise man and the foolish man. I want to be wise! I don't want to stand before my Lord with nothing to show because I was too self-centered to allow Him to do His work that lasts for eternity!
I just finished reading the book Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah H.... It is an allegory for the Christian-life along the lines of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, only I enjoyed this one. God so timed my reading it to wake me up a bit and remind me that He has given me promises; when I act like Much Afraid (the main character) and allow fear to dictate my moves, I will never walk in faith and victory. I have to allow Him to determine the path He will guide me on as He leads me to the High Places. It is not for me to say that He has gone the wrong way! So, like Much Afraid, I surrender to His hand so that He can remove my human love and give me His. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!! All of her light and momentary struggles earned for her an eternal reward and a new name: Grace and Glory. That's what I want!

What's in a name?

2009-07-28T19:39:00.001-04:00

In her five short years, my niece has acquired quite a name for herself. In fact, she has so many that I thought I had better chronicle them before some are lost to history!

Boo-One of her first nicknames (if not The First) came from the movie Monsters Inc. She loved the movie and just like the character in the movie, she went around saying “boo” all the time. Boo is a term of endearment in her home.

Sister-While seeming obvious, this evolved because when she gets bossy, she calls the boys “Brothers…” followed by a command. Sister is how Travis addresses her to remind her of who is really in charge. It, too, has become a term of endearment as we all call her Sis or Sister.

The White Tornado-Just as tornados reap destruction as they touch down so Alayna destroys as she makes her way around. Give her one minute in a room and you will find it completely transformed!

Princess Bladder-Alayna could go for about ten or fifteen minutes between bathroom trips when she was potty training. Travis frequently tells of having to pull over to the side of the road on the way to church because she couldn’t make it the twenty-five minutes to Grace! To this day Alayna has uncanny timing when it comes to announcing, “I have to go to the bathroom!”

Gretel-As in the fairy tale version with Hansel. Remember how they left a trail of bread crumbs to find their way back home? Alayna leaves a trail of stuff that you can follow to her current location. I realized when that Sprint commercial came out a month or so ago that Alayna was Gretel marking her path back home. When I first called her this, she said, “Who’s that?” I explained and she replied, “I’m not her!” Yeah, right.

The Weed Eater-This one was bestowed by a friend of the family in awe of her ability to keep up an uninterrupted stream of conversation. Because there is no need for anyone else to respond, he says it is like listening to the steady hum (uunnnnn nnnnaanannanananannana, uuunnnn nnnanananannananna…) of, you guessed it, a weed eater. BTW, she doesn’t like this one!

Sugar or Sug-Sug-She is so very sweet, sugar is the only appropriate adjective! She loves to give hugs and kissies.

The Dictator-Pretty self-explanatory. She loves to be in charge or at least think she is. She sometimes forgets that the boys aren’t hers to control or that her parents aren’t her loyal subjects. I snap to attention and salute. She reminds me of someone…

Miss Thing (pronounced Thang)-When she gets to doing her “thang”, Felicia (friend of the family and bestower of this name) calls her this as though we are all in her classroom and she’s the teacher. Alayna usually laughs and rises to the challenge to explain exactly what she expects from us.

The Dog Whisperer-The Johnsons have a dog (Abigail) that Alayna loves to boss around if she has no one else to boss. A few days ago, Alayna crawled into Abby’s kennel with her and was whispering in her ear. Who knows what she was saying, but it made us think of the dog whisperer and it stuck!

The Weather Man-This is a new one. She didn’t understand the title of meteorologist, so we simplified it for her. She is much better than the TV weather man; she is 100% accurate at predicting the rain! If you ever wonder if you need to take an umbrella, just check with Sugar!

Love Bug-Cousin of Sugar. We call her Love Bug if she initiates giving love away which is often!

The Move

2009-07-19T19:02:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't posted an update in forever, so please forgive me. This past month has been total mayhem. Actually, the past three months have been mayhem, but things are actually slowing down now. I spent time relaxing a couple of days ago and wondering what I should be doing....that hasn't happened in months!! I was actually sick on Friday and spent much of the day in bed with a headache and stomachache. Yuck. Feeling better now, though.
The house that I am sharing with Mom (or Mom is sharing with me??) is really cute. Travis found it the day before she flew up to Cedar Rapids to help get Mom packed. God really waited for the last possible moment there. No one was paniced though... HA! Anyway, the house. It is probably around 1500 square feet, so around half the size of my mom's house and slightly larger than mine. Seven (count them!!) garage sales later, we are finally down to just a few boxes stacked around, mostly Christmas decor. Needless to say, not mine!! I only have a couple of boxes of photos/memorabilia that are in the pack. I went to buy plastic totes to re-pack everything as the humidity is really hard on boxes. I will work to get that done this week. I forgot to take pictures of the house to post, but will do so in the next couple of weeks. I should wait until we have living room furniture anyway! The patio chairs in the big empty space aren't the best look for a place. :) Now if I can just learn how best to live with my mother so that both of us survive...any tips?? It's a challenge to share space with someone again.
On another note, I am still looking for a job (no worries; school starts in one month!) and a church. We have visited a few but no decisions yet. Mom has a couple of job opportunities with home companion services and she is really excited about that, especially if she is able to work full time. I'll work on posting some of those funny moments over the past month. It would be great to hear from you all as my "social network" here consists of about three people, one of which is my sister!

Next Steps

2009-06-08T14:00:00.003-04:00

This month has passed in a whirlwind of cramming in curriculum not yet covered, tests, grading, and, in my spare time, helping my mom sort through stuff and packing. Crazy how time flies when you're not having fun... So many details have changed in the short space of the past three weeks that it seems I could be living in a parallel universe with one me going this way and the other going that way. God loves to keep me on the edge of my seat!
Travis and the kids flew in a week ago to help pack up mom's stuff. I don't know what I would do if she hadn't been able to come. I might have committed myself. The villa we found last summer that we were planning to rent as of July 1 fell through. Trav had been in touch with the guy throughout the year asking questions and just checking in for us. Then the short term renter who was to leave this month decided she wanted to sign an extended lease for a year. There went that plan!! Travis had been thinking we should look around more and I wasn't so sure because I didn't want to leave the guy holding the bag when he'd been counting on us for a year! Well, guess I was wrong! God provided a much better place: more square footage, better layout, nicest neighborhood in the area according to T & P. Oh yeah, Trav found this place the day before she flew up to Cedar Rapids. :)
We are trying to squeeze in last visits with friends around packing before our departure. Trav has scheduled the kids most days with friends or family so that they aren't bored out of their minds and eating everything in sight!! We have posted an appointment calendar on the refrigerator to keep all the times/places straight. Hopefully we won't double book ourselves! One of my co-teachers is also leaving Heritage; her family is relocating to North Carolina. I'm great with that because it's a whole lot closer to Florida than Iowa...and it's warm there, too!! Diana and I have been praying each other through because the details have been coming together so quickly it is something God alone could do! She has already left to house hunt down there and I don't know if she will make it back before we leave. I don't like good-bye, but not saying good-bye is even worse; then you aren't ready to say hello! We have been talking about having a "shaking the dust off our feet" ceremony as we leave Iowa as it has been such a difficult time for both of us and I just can't wait to shake the dust and start over! Anyway, we didn't get to do it before she left, so now I am trying to come up with something fitting on my own. Anyone have good ideas?
We load the moving truck on June 16 for the house closing on the the 17th. We will stay in town for a wedding on the 20th, and then the 22 hour drive will begin. Have I mentioned how much I am looking forward to that? Driving for a long time brings about narcolepsy for me, so pray that I will be able to remain awake and alert! We should arrive on the morning of the 23rd, unload and then, if Trav and Paul still haven't found a house, we'll pound the pavement to find them something and pack them up for a move on June 30. We should be expert packers by then. Should you need packing help in the future, don't call us, we'll call you! Our new address is 106 Mestre Place; North Venice, FL 34275. We'll leave the light on for ya!

I am officially homeless--and happy about it!

2009-05-15T11:55:00.002-04:00

I have intended to update you for the past two weeks and just haven't had the time to breathe let alone write! It has been absolutely crazy here since mid-April, but I am coming up for air now! I had a garage sale the weekend before I moved (April 18) and it rained, so Mom said why don't we do this again next weekend. I'll take care of this while you start loading the car with the boxes you are keeping. OK...except it rained on Saturday the 25th also! I officially sold my house on April 30. What a load off! Now I am helping Mom get hers ready. We had a garage sale at her house on May 2 (three weeks in a row is a bit much!) and it was a beautiful day--finally! We got rid of lots of stuff, so that is great. I had a huge pile of things to donate to Salvation Army also, but that turned into the world's biggest nightmare (well, maybe not exactly, but you get the picture!). Long story short, after contacting four different agencies to come pick it up, Mom still wound up having to load up 90% of it and take it to Goodwill herself. You'd think it was trash, but it was all housewares and clothing. Oh well! You can contact me for the time being at Mom's house; if I'm not there, she'll know how you can get ahold of me. It is finally at the top of my priority list to go purchase a cell phone this weekend. :) The priority now is getting Mom's house sold before the divorce decree comes through; it has been ten weeks already! I am praying that we will hear something in the next two weeks so we can plan to get out of here after school. I still need to find a job. Mom already has some good leads. And just to keep life interesting, Travis and Paul are also planning to move at the end of June. We are all or nothing kind of people!!

House Saga Part 54

2009-03-20T10:20:00.005-04:00

Well, once the inspector came through, it was just a matter of how much damage would be identified. Sure enough, there were two things that kept it from passing inspection: the foundation (I knew that) and the furnace (had no idea!). Funny, but not ha-ha funny, the day the inspector came to look at my house the furnace was making a funny noise as he says. (I didn't know because I'd been at my mom's since Tuesday and this is Thursday.) I got home Friday evening to a very cold house and that strange metallic burning smell accompanied by a high pitched humming. I sniffed my way through the house not finding the source and decided I might better check out the basement. Sure enough, this awful sound and smell is coming from the furnace. I think that perhaps when the inspector came through he flipped a switch or something that might have led to this, so I snoop around turning levers off and on, and basically switching anything that I can get my hands on. I check the fuse box and it appears normal, so I decide I'll call the inspector to see if maybe he can walk me through what he has done to it!! :) Fortunately, he is a really nice guy, and tells me that it was making this growly noise when he tested it and it sounds like one of the fan motors is going out. I can't get it to come on at all, so what did he do?? After all, it's never done anything like this before, not that he'll believe that!!

Come to find out, the durn thing chose that day to kaput. By the time our conversation is over, I am (of course) bawling and freaking out over how in the world I can afford this one!! He gives me a name of a friend that does heating and cooling so that I can get someone over first thing in the morning. I bundled myself up and headed to bed upstairs (warm air rises as you know). In the night, the Lord reminded me that I had purchased the insurance that covers certain home repairs until the house sells and one year after for the buyer. Whew! So, I had to call the insurance to find out whom they wanted to fix it and then call the very nice guy who was willing to help and cancel. Bad form, I know. Anyway, a guy is sent over by 1:00 in the afternoon (I've been officially freezing for five hours that morning!) and quickly diagnoses the problem. Bigger problem is that he can't get the part until Monday and I can't run it even though it will now come on because he says it is emitting gas. Bad news. So off to Mom's I go, again.

On Sunday, the buyer had two companies coming to give estimates on the damage to the foundation. One company estimated at $1000 and the other at $6000. OUCH! Now I'm really bawling, but I finally heard back from her on Tuesday that she still wants the house and will have the work done herself for an additional $800 off the price. Well, that doesn't sound too bad compared with what she could have asked, but that is just enough to take me into the loss side of the equation. I'm crying again! My sister kicks some sense into me (as usual) and reminds me that if I have to make a house payment for just one more month, I am making up that amount. So, in those terms, I decide to just let it go. Who knows if I will ever get another offer and clearly the buyer really loves the house. (sucker... I did too!!)

Now all terms are settled and we wait for closing on April 30. I figure that's plenty of time for the Money Pit to come up with some new problem! Keep praying!! :) It's a good thing my God is so BIG!!

Hallelujah!

2009-03-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I was at school and just starting to think about the weekend when it hit me: I needed to call the realtor and let her know that I couldn’t do any showings on Saturday because there was a banquet at school and I needed to be able to prepare stuff and myself at home. So, I ran down to the office to call and all of the lines were busy. It was time for pals (where my sixth graders go to the first grade classroom and read with them or they do fun activities together) so the first grade teacher lent me her cell phone to call. I ran over to my classroom so that I’d be able to hear and called Dawn. When she picked up, I told her I needed to be at home, so could we please not do any showings on Saturday. Her response was, “Well, I don’t think that’s an issue. We just got an offer…”

I screamed, “What???!! How much??” and my students heard me down the hall. J The offer had just been faxed to Dawn, and she hadn’t had time to even read over it yet to know what to tell me. She asked if I would be available in about ten minutes so she could call me back, but it’s stinkin’ Friday which means we have chapel when I’d normally have a planning period…so no, I’m not available!! She amended to “Can you give me two minutes and then call me back?” to which I was thinking you betcha!

The party commenced immediately, despite me not having any details or knowing whether or not it was an acceptable offer! Believe me when I say I was taking it, pretty much no matter what! I ran back to Jenn’s classroom (the first grade teacher) and told her she was on her own for the rest of our activity… and she didn’t mind!! Back to my room to call and get the details. I have it listed for $92,900 and have negotiation room down to $88,000 (what I have in it). The offer came in at $90,000 with an $1800 credit for the missing windows in the upstairs bedrooms. [That was something the original owner had taken out and I have wondered why there are only storm windows on the east and west walls, but hey, who am I?? I’m sure there is a logical explanation out there somewhere.] All that translates to $88,200 and I didn’t even counter offer. While I’d like to make more than $200 for all the blood, sweat, blood, tears, blood and tears I have given, I’m content. I am extremely grateful with the housing market the way it is that I have not lost half of the value.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean school, chapel was getting ready to start. I ran to the gym (literally!!) and over to where my sixth graders were sitting with their first grade pals. They had been praying for my house to sell throughout the school year, but since I had just put it back on the market the 4th of February, we had really been praying and they’d ask everyday, “Has it sold?” Without any preface I shouted, “IT SOLD!!!” and they all started dancing, high fiving and laughing with me. My mom was sitting down in front with the preschoolers and heard the ruckus. She was wondering what was going on when I shouted to her from across the room, “IT SOLD!!!” and ran over to where she was. Well, if you know my mother, there is no halfway with her! She was shouting, “Hallelujah! Thank you Lord!” before I even got there and then the hugging and crying began. (Have you ever noticed how that’s contagious? Once we started crying, everybody in the room was tearing up with us. It was a moment to be cherished. Several students came up and gave me big hugs; I’ll never forget it.

I stopped by Dawn’s on the way home to sign the papers and then met two of the teachers at Carlos O’Kellys for a celebratory dinner. The perfect treat. The next hurdle is the inspection, which is happening right now. I’ve been praying that the inspector will be blind, but we’ll see what he turns up. I don’t have any money to fix anything, so once again, I’m living by faith…or not. I’m hanging on by a thread, so your prayers are coveted to keep me hanging!

Oh the glories of snow days...

2009-01-16T17:50:00.002-05:00

I don’t think I’ve mentioned lately how much I LOVE snow. Beautiful, fluffy flakes gently falling from the sky forming frigid drifts that become dirty, icy, car-scraping instruments of torture! We have gotten tons of the nastiness this past week. Last Friday night we got seven inches. I was out with some teacher friends and we wound up having a slumber party at my house; too dangerous to go home! Monday we were released from school two hours early because of a blizzard warning. We wound up getting two more inches or so, but the wind was causing white-out conditions. Said blizzard gave us a delayed start at school on Tuesday until it had blown over (ha!). The relief was short lived as Tuesday evening around 8:00 the next round came through. By the time it was finished dumping on Wednesday, we had another seven inches. We got a snow day, the only redeeming part of the visit from the Arctic. However, we will now go to school on Presidents’ Day to make it up, so whether or not it is redeeming is debatable. Today we are out for cold. The cold that gives new meaning to the word cold: –20 for a high! Those two words should never be paired: high temperature and minus! Wind chills are in the –40 range.

To add insult to injury, my pipes under the kitchen sink burst last night. Now not only am I miserably cold whether inside or out, but I have to deal with icicles dangling from the pipes in my basement!! I knew Iowa was really part of the tundra trying to masquerade as a temperate climate region. Have I mentioned that I can’t wait to move to Florida? People who have clearly lived in Iowa WAY too long have said, “Oh, you’ll miss the snow…” Seriously, they are on something really mind numbing. One of my favorite things about life in Thailand was NO SNOW!!! Cold was considered 60 degrees. Ahhh, now that’s my kind of cold. Now if I could just figure out how to fast forward through the next four months until spring arrives (in Iowa), I just might make it! Send any helpful ideas my way!

Addendum: On the news last night they compared the temperatures of Iowa (-29) to the North Pole (+7) and the South Pole (+32). This is proof positive that Iowa truly is the equivalent of ice hell.

Depression is better than any roller coaster ride!

2008-12-16T13:56:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking the past couple of weeks about all the benefits of being diagnosed as depressed. I decided to make a top ten list.
10. An immediate "get out of jail free" pass when you do or say something stupid. People can be pretty understanding when you say, "Sorry, I'm depressed..."
9. Not being in "your right mind" implies that you have another mind or at least a left mind; anyone know where I've left mine??
8. You can cry anywhere at any time, so anyone who needs compassion, you're there with a shoulder to cry on, but you'd better bring your own tissues.
7. Weight gain. Boy, if you weren't depressed before anti-depressants, you will be after an added 100 pounds or so.
6. Going to the doctor for those regular check-ups to see how you're "feeling". And they weigh you every time! Like you're going to feel good after that! And then they bill you for that!
5. Not being able to sleep. All a depressed person wants to do is sleep and those ****** pills take that one solace away! Or they induce a sleep-like state at the most inopportune time, like in the middle of work or driving home from work!
4. Those meds really even out the emotions. Impervious as a rock and ready to roll.
3. Each med has a booklet-long list of side effects (which translates into more sleepless nights, nauseous days, and turbulent roller coaster ride emotions). Who wouldn't look forward to that and then some? It really is worth it, right?
2. Did I mention weight gain? When road kill looks good, you're in trouble.
1. The cost of the medication is enough to make you good and depressed if you weren't before being diagnosed. They should list poverty as a possible side effect of extended use.

Hands and Feet of Jesus

2008-11-04T10:38:00.005-05:00

The middle school students at Heritage (where I teach) volunteered to serve with Eight Days of Hope last Friday. (You should read about this organization and why they were in Cedar Rapids. It is a cool testimony of God at work in our nation!) We had to have ten parent volunteers to make it happen, and we actually got eleven! It was one of the best experiences I have had with these kiddos. They arrived at 7:00 AM bright eyed and bushy tailed which in itself is a feat! We had to go through orientation before we could break into work groups and be assigned to a task. In all, there were 49 of us and we really had the Eight Days of Hope volunteers scrambling to come up with tasks that we could do without someone having to re-do them!! (They decided right away that painting was out of the question.) We all wound up doing some type of demolishing--that's hard to mess up!--or outdoor work. We worked until 2:30 and then had to load up to go back to the school in time for dismissal. It was such a great opportunity for these kids to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community. By the way, I think I am part of the back of Jesus because my lower back has been screaming in protest since last Friday! Too much whirling a twenty-pound crow bar over my head. Really aggrivated my arthritis. I wound up having to visit Hy-Vee around the corner from my house at 2:30 AM for Advil...in my pajamas...but that's another story. Be glad I didn't have my camera for that one!!

Five Things I Hate to Admit

2008-10-22T08:39:00.001-04:00

The number one thing I hate to admit is definitely my weight! I don’t know exactly what it is nor do I want to. All I know is it is the biggest number ever and that’s scary to admit!

I hate to admit that I got busted TPing a house in high school. I don’t just mean busted, I mean have to go to the person’s house and apologize kind of busted. Travis was there with me as were four other friends and the consequences of that night reach to today. We still can’t touch a roll of toilet paper or a can of shaving cream without being transported back in time…and thinking about alternate plans that wouldn’t have gotten us busted. For instance, we would NOT have taken our red headed friend who was always responsible for getting us in trouble. We were angels!

I also hate to admit that I am obsessively neat and tidy. It makes me giggle to hear my sister say that she is because she made me INSANE when we were kids!! She was obsessively sloppy and under my skin. I used to clean up after her because I couldn’t stand to wait until she had gotten around to it herself, which was about once every three months or when Mom said she couldn’t leave her room until she wasn’t hiking over Everest to get out. Organization makes me even more excited. I used to look forward to visiting Travis in Iowa when I was still in KC because there was always something that needed a little attention. I have to say, though, that these days, I enjoy when we get to tackle projects together. (**sniff**)

Which brings me to the next thing I hate to admit: I miss my babies!! I moved to Iowa to be near them and in a cruel twist, I wind up here while they are down in the land of no snow!! I’m not bitter, though. Maybe that’s what I hate to admit…I am bitter! Gasp! More therapy!

Finally, I hate to admit that I love living alone. The quiet, the lack of clutter, going to bed whenever I want, eating junk food for dinner or not eating dinner, leaving the heat off or so low that it is freezing so I can afford to pay the bill…this is the life! This doesn’t take into consideration the benefit of no one else hogging the phone or finishing off the roll of toilet paper and not replacing it, let alone not having to coordinate schedules every time I want to do something. I hate to admit that it can lead to self-absorption, but that’s a whole new entry!

Stressed=Desserts

2008-10-20T08:42:00.000-04:00

Several things happening at once can lead to a bit of stress. For instance, let’s say someone has a house for sale and it needs some repairs. People only like to work during certain hours which happen to coincide with one’s school hours. Further, that house hasn’t had a showing in three weeks and the last offer was seriously lacking meaning that said house has now been on the market for six months and has no possible leads. Also, the school where same one works is going through the accreditation process greatly increasing the amount of outside work needing to be done, which is only slightly complicated by the fact that these are new courses being taught and one doesn’t know from day to day what comes next! Throw in coordinating a couple of big middle school events for good measure. Oh yeah, and it could be that one’s church is seemingly heading in a direction contrary to Scripture so that leaving the church in search of another is now being added to the mix in addition to weaning oneself off anti-depressants in order to try to lose those 70 extra pounds provided courtesy of said drugs, and voila! Stress. Good thing I don’t know Anyone in that boat because No One would want to be around Someone like that! Good thing I know The One who is in control of all things, which includes my house, my weight, my job and my church hunt. Oh yeah, and my move to Florida! Can I get a witness?? Anyone?

Music Speaks to the Heart

2008-09-01T12:06:00.005-04:00

This song is called "All that I Am" by Everafter. You can listen here.
"All that I am is on the altar of You. Change my motivations, change my attitude. ‘Cuz I can’t change myself, but Lord, I know You can. All that I am is on the altar, so You can alter all that I am."
I get a bit tired of struggling through life at times. Such an uphill battle. I try to fix everything myself and rarely does that work. It is easy to slip deeper into depression when reality sets in that I am a wretch. But that's where I need to live so that I can receive the grace which I need. In light of all the growing I need to do it is great to hear the truth: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40:28-29 I really only need strength enough to surrender! That's a whole 'nother struggle!

Blog Therapy

2008-08-27T12:59:00.007-04:00

I need some "blog therapy" as my sister calls it. I started this morning as usual: going to school, devotions before school, the bell rings and all bedlam breaks out. I needed to use the bathroom before school started and as I walked by the kindergarten classroom (Holden's room last year), I looked in and saw a cute curly blond haired little boy sitting right where Holdee should be! My heart leaped in my chest only to crash back to reality that it wasn't my Holdee. I started crying...and couldn't stop. Needless to say, the kiddos were giving me startled looks as I got to the classroom. Gabe should be there, but no Gab-o either. (It's hard to type when you are crying! I need to get myself pulled together!!) I decide to share with the kids rather than trying to hide it and so we all gathered around my computer and read Gabriel's blog--they read, I cried. They really enjoyed that and it gave me a chance to just get it out. The sixth graders have been so sweet; they pray each morning for Gabe in his new school that he will make new friends and have a good day. I am so blessed.
It's funny that all this came on because Mom was lamenting a couple of days ago about how long it would be until we were all together again (nine months) and I was saying, "Let's just look at it like a pregnancy! We have now to get ready for the excitement later!" And then today, she's all comforting me with we'll be there soon and I'm all weepy about how it seems like forever!! I don't know how we will get through all of the things we need to before the end of the school year and time to move, but God does. There is great comfort in that. I'd really like to see the Master Plan, but I guess I will just have to rest assured that He has one and I can just hold on. In the meantime, I better get some school work done!

This past month

2008-08-14T14:07:00.001-04:00

It has been one crazy month. So many things happening at once that it was overwhelming at times. My cute house had a couple dozen showings that resulted in an offer that was too low, but finally got some maintenance work done that I had been trying to contract for a long time. With the flood, I had just given up getting anyone to come do my fixer-upper jobs, but the Lord blessed me by sending a neighbor of my mom’s who took care of things for me—and he did it for free!! Double blessing!! Keeping it clean and ready to show at all times is a bit of challenge even for a neat freak like me. There are times when I just want to leave my school stuff out so I can work on it the next day, but I must pack it all up and stow it away. Oh well. It’s only for a little while!

I also continued working at the church throughout the summer although I had to cut back on my hours because I just wasn’t getting all the school stuff done that I needed to. I decided mid-July that with all the changes going on I had better resign my position there because I just don’t know what life will bring this fall. My last day there was last Thursday when I checked in the kiddos heading off to camp. It was bittersweet. As much as I enjoy what I get to do there and the people I work with, I definitely feel it is time to move on.

And so I moved right on to school! We had our first day of meetings today and it was a serious reality check of all that I just don’t have done! It is one of those days where I wish I were two people so that I could get some work done. I am teaching four new classes and I still feel like they are an abstract idea. I am working hard at fighting down the panic… Teaching at Heritage has been one of those experiences where I have asked the Lord several times what I’m missing. How did I get back on this side of the mulberry bush again??? If you think of it, say a prayer for me!

The excitement of the summer for me was the week I got to go visit my babies (and Trav!) in Florida. It was wonderful to see where they are calling home at least for now and help them get further settled in. We celebrated Holden and Riley’s birthdays while we were there, too. It was wonderful to get to go shopping with them and pick out their presents. We read books and played in the pool/at the beach and I brought home another ear infection!! If you’ve been counting how many that makes, please let me know. I’m curious. They have all grown in the six weeks since I last saw them and I dread thinking of how much they will grow between now and Christmas! Needless to say, I left my heart in Florida when I got back on the plane.

House for Sale

2008-07-07T17:52:00.003-04:00

Even though my house has officially been on the market since the beginning of April, it is now officially listed with a realtor as of last Wednesday. I didn't have much activity with the for sale by owner route; only one showing and maybe a dozen phone calls total over the three months. In my mind, I had until July 1 to try to sell it before I'd need to look at using a realtor. I was hopeful to sell it on my own in time to move closer to school before the start of the school year August 18. I knew I wouldn't get what I needed out of it in a stagnant market by listing it with a realtor. (That 7% fee really takes out a chunk when you are already on the low end of your budget!) However, God is in control of even stagnant house markets!!
Not to sound opportunistic, but the flood has really opened up the housing market here in Iowa. People are really starting to look around. And what do you think they will find? A cute little house in a great price range! The realtor listed it at $96,000 when I was asking $89,000 because several houses in my neighborhood have sold for higher prices in the past month! YIPPEE!! Now not only will my house most likely move quickly, but I will also get what I need out of it!! Today is the first day the house has been "available" to the public through the MLS and I had three--count them!--showings today! Mind you, I was preparing for a showing tomorrow and an open house on Sunday so the house wasn't quite ready...I shot out of the office like a cannon and flew home at 11:45 when I got the call for a 12:15 showing. I wasn't quite ready when they got there (awkward moment) but it is what it is. :) I'm really excited to see what God is going to do. August 18 is just around the corner!!

Thailand Dé Javu

2008-06-16T14:59:00.006-04:00

I think I may be back in Thailand, Dorothy. This past week Cedar Rapids has been subject to flooding not unlike what we experience in Thailand during the fall rains. We have had some sort of precipitation multiple times every week since Thanksgiving. This has led to supersaturated ground that simply can't handle any more water. The river levels have slowly been rising and last Wednesday we knew flooding was imminent. The worst flood on record was in 1993 when the river rose to 28' something, but we flew right on by that! The river went to nearly 33' almost overnight. I am only 5 miles from work at the church, but it took me over an hour to get there because of the detours. The only way through town still open is the Interstate, but you cannot exit downtown; that means you must go completely through town one way or the other and then wind your way through to where you want to go via roads that aren't flooded...this is tricky. The good news is that my house is uphill nearly 1/2 mile from the flooding. The only problem I had was water coming in through the basement drain the day the river rose so high. It has all drained out; thankfully it was not contaminated.
To make it feel even more like Thailand, there is a water shortage (seems paradoxical with the flood!) that has led city officials to issue a water restriction: limit use to drinking only. That means no flushing toilets, showers, doing dishes, etc. On the recommended ways to accomplish these things were to collect rain water for flushing and watering plants, use dehumidifier water for bathing and shampooing or go outside in a swimsuit and wash. Yep, back in Thailand. This morning I used my nasty dehumidifier water to wet my hair and froze the whole time! Then I took a sponge bath with about two cups of water (eeewww!) and brushed my teeth with bottled water. Forutnately for my neighbors, it isn't supposed to rain this week so they won't be subjected to seeing me outside scrubbing in a rainstorm!! :) It really was a culture shocking moment as I poured water into the toilet to "flush", and then used the dip, rinse and shriek method for hair washing. It was de ja vu...
The good thing is that my house did not flood. Also, now there will be people who are looking to buy a house that didn't flood! Over 1300 blocks were flooded and many of those people and businesses will be lost. That is devastating. I don't know how I'd deal with that, though I am ever so grateful to not have to at this point in time.

I Got Tagged!

2008-04-28T15:17:00.004-04:00

*I am - overweight! Completely obsessed about it at this point in my life...
*I have - a house for sale, a job that I would like to leave, but a purpose in life!
*I wish - I knew what the future held, but I know who holds the future!
*I hate - depression--when I let my emotions take over my logic.
*I miss - Thailand. My papa. Terribly.
*I fear - snakes. Yikes; don't go there!
*I feel - overwhelmed by out of control thoughts about things out of my control...augh!
*I hear - loud students down the hallway.
*I smell - body odor...hopefully not mine!! :)
*I crave - chocolate most of the time. Deeper relationships with Christ and friends.
*I search - for Truth. I want to understand more.
*I wonder - how God can ALWAYS be without ever having been created.
*I regret - impulse purchases that I shouldn't have made
*I love - my nephews and niece and friends.
*I ache - when I hurt others.
*I care - about all those people dying without knowing Christ.
*I always - shoot my mouth off before I speak...
*I believe - in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
*I dance - HORRIBLY. Let's not ever go there...
*I sing - in my head all the time. I can hold a tune, but I make a joyful noise most of the time!
*I cry - and then I can't stop. I try to hold it in. You can bet if someone in my family is crying, so am I!
*I don't always - like to do my schoolwork. It is a drain. Why couldn't I have chosen a 9-5 job?
*I fight - a lot...about anything! I love a good debate!
*I write - to clear my head. It is a favorite hobby.
*I never - pass on the opportunity to travel!
*I listen - when I want to...sometimes I am way too task oriented.
*I need - someone who will listen and not try to solve all my problems. There are too many.
*I am happy - that I have a Savior and there is HOPE!

ROCK, CHALK, JAYHAWK, KKKKUUUU!

2008-04-09T10:04:00.005-04:00

How 'bout them Hawks??? I am stoked! I always root for my boys in the tournament, but somehow I was banking on this being their year. (20 years after Danny Manning and the miracle team.) Maybe it is a superstitious thing and since I didn't get a bracket filled out this year to win a competition it took the pressure off! Just kidding. It was a sweet game. Up until those last few minutes, I was as relaxed as I have ever been watching them play. The last four minutes I had the covers pulled up to my eyes and was alternately squeezing my eyes shut and peeking out. My heart was racing in the last minute when they were down by five...but thanks to a stupid foul, it was like John Elway playing basketball. It just ain't over till it's over! Beautiful three pointer, and overtime, here we come! I wasn't sure I'd get to sleep at all, but somewhere around midnight my adreneline had diminished enough that I could drift off. And what a sweet dream! I proudly wore my KU attire to school the next day and taught each of my classes the Rock, Chalk. Of course, there are always naysayers, but I just reminded them that I am in control of their grades and they shut up quickly. :) http://kuathletics.cstv.com/

Looking to relocate

2008-03-31T16:44:00.009-04:00

Just returned from spring break…I was desperately in need of a break! Those middle schoolers really take it out of me. I'm not as young as I used to be!! I was supposed to just spend the week at home, working on curriculum guides and getting my house ready to put on the market. However, Tuesday before break, my sister calls and asks if I would like to accompany her family to Florida, check things out there. They will be moving this summer, and I, of course, would like to be nearby. Not to mention that my body LONGS to be warm again!! So I went on an exploratory mission, just to see about job possibilities, what the town is like and housing.

I loved the place; seems very similar to “home” in KC. Kind of the best of not being in a huge city, but having all of the benefits of city life readily available. I didn’t get anywhere in the job department. There were four public elementaries in the town and the Christian school where the boys will attend. The Christian school isn’t likely to have any openings and all of the elementary schools are consolidated under Sarasota Schools; they are having budget cuts and it is not known when or if they will do any hiring. Oh well. I guess that means I stay put for another year and then head south. I feel very content that is the answer from the Lord. It will definitely be a long year, but I am certain that we will end up together, so to speak. The timing with Mom and Bill has to be considered as well. I can see that it would be better to have another year to finish things up here.

I'm a big girl now!

2008-02-13T09:47:00.004-05:00

I feel a bit like the Huggies Pull-Ups jingle: "Mommy, wow! I'm a big kid now!" Not only because I am overweight...(LOL) but also because I have finally, at age 36, learned to like coffee. I should qualify that statement by letting it be known that I am talking about the really fattening, high calorie stuff that has a small amount of coffee and a large amount of milk or cream, sugar and flavoring. Like lattes or mochas. None of that black stuff for me. Forget the decaf--bring on the espresso shot with LOTS of vanilla or chocolate or pumpkin spice. And iced...now that's my personal fave. I have really developed a thing for Starbucks frappacinos. They can do serious damage to ones pocket book, however. I must limit my intake to special occasions, though I have been known to make up such occasions at a moments notice! It is a good thing I am on a tight budget or I would probably be even more overweight! sigh. The joy of getting older and taking anti-depressants... :) My students have noticed my sudden desire for a coffee drink and several of them (so thoughtful!) got me a gift card to the local coffee house called Corridor Coffee. (Just a plug...if you are ever in the neighborhood, they are REALLY good!) I drank through those in nothing flat and am now back on the more moderate occasional coffee, once every few weeks. It would definitely be bad to get addicted...but if something's going to kill me, it might as well taste good and benefit those around me!! HA!

Year in Review

2007-12-28T15:48:00.000-05:00

It's true what they say. Time does go faster the older you get. I can't believe that 2008 will be here in a matter of days. I so vividly recall looking forward to the year 2000 to see what all the hype about the millennium bug was about and if anything apocalyptic really would happen! In more recent history, this year has blown by with hurricane force. It seems just yesterday I was changing jobs in the middle of the school year (from middle school science and Bible to middle school language arts and history) but that was February. Holden's great toothless wonder accident was in March and I turned 36 (20:16 as my sister says) in April. May is always a great whirlwind of activity trying to get all of the tasks associated with the end of the school year accomplished and still have time to breathe (let alone eat, sleep and other necessary bodily functions!). A huge face lift for my house took place in June when my house got painted, though not entirely finished until August. Out to the Grand Canyon and immediately back to school...work, work, work and at last, Christmas break. Praise the Lord! I do think I am getting old. We get two weeks off this year and I think I have counted it down more than the kids.
I actually did not plan anything over break. Normally I'd be headed somewhere, but this time my tired brain is clamoring for some serious down time. I thought I'd work at the church for a couple of days, work at school stuff here and there, watch lots of movies, strip my counter tops (in process; not entirely pleased with the results) and hang with some of the teachers. I have one week left and then back to the routine. We had the best family Christmas that we've had in years. Mom and Bill are separated; that took a LOT of pressure off. Mom and I went to Trav and Paul's house around 11:00 Christmas morning and we stayed until 10:00 PM. It was so relaxing. No agenda, just enjoying playing games, snacking and being together. We had all decided to fore go presents this year and donate the money we would normally spend to the school. (Aside: The boys all attend Heritage where I teach. Currently we are housed in a church but are in a capital campaign to build the school by 2009.) I was amazed that the boys would choose to do that, but what a huge blessing for them to recognize that they really don't NEED anything. We did get Alayna a couple of presents since she isn't in school yet. :) Mom and I are hopefully taking all of them to see Alvin and the Chipmunks tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be hearing chipmunkesque singing and talking for the next few months... And on that note, Happy New Year.

Grand Canyon Hiking

2007-10-04T11:39:00.000-04:00

Well, since I survived my trip out to the Grand Canyon almost two months ago, I decided it was time to make the official announcement: I did NOT hike to the bottom of the Canyon. A few days before we were to leave, I had the reality check that my knees would not go all the way down and still function to get me back up. I had only lost five of the sixty pounds I needed to lose, and that contributed greatly to the knees not properly working. I did log hundreds of miles, rub multiple blisters and develop calluses so thick I am still trying to loofah them off! This is not including all the chafing that I had no idea would be a problem… wow, I can still feel the pain of that!
The adventure began at 2:30 AM (I didn’t know there was another 2:30!). I had to get myself ready and over to pick up Tamara, our team leader, by 3:00. We then had to drive across town to Brenda’s house because her husband was driving us to the airport in Moline. We needed to check-in at 5:00 for our 6:00 flight. We made it no problem, though we did board at the final call because coffee was a priority! Those first views of the Canyon from the air were breathtaking. It truly is beyond words and pictures just don’t do it justice. I will post a few so you can get an idea, but you really must experience it for yourself sometime! We spent three days there, hiking and taking a bajillion photos. My other five teammates all made it down to the Colorado River on the South Kaibab Trail and back to the rim on the Bright Angel Trail in the same day. It took them longer than planned, from pre-dawn hours to sunset with a three-hour rest in the afternoon three miles from the top, but they all felt better than they thought they would once they had achieved the ultimate challenge. I hiked the rim trail for several miles and got some great photos of the depths. I didn’t hike down more than ¼ - ½ mile because I needed to be able to get back to the top on my own steam! I took a helicopter tour of the Canyon because I figured what better place to take my first helicopter ride! However, it was a disappointment because the cheapest ride was $140 for a 30 minute tour; 15 minutes of which were over the Canyon! Needless to say, I didn’t see much and it didn’t seem like a good investment. If I could have hired a helicopter to see what I wanted to see, that would have been much more worthwhile. Oh, well. Consider yourself warned! And we didn’t go out to the West Rim to see the new glass bridge structure because it sounds like a huge rip-off. (Short version: you pay over $100 to be able to walk on the bridge for 15 minutes and you CANNOT take pictures or stand still!)
On the whole, this is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It is so phenomenal to imagine God’s design in crafting it. Another reason to believe! There are tons more stories to tell, but you’ll have to call or email if you want more details as most people won’t want to hear it all…

House Painting Party

2007-07-17T17:44:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago my sister called my boss (behind my back) to ask if he knew of some people who would help paint my house. Up until that point, it had been myself, a couple of friends and her. I think she saw the writing on the wall that at that rate, we would all be old and unable to stand on ladders before we finished! So the World's Greatest Boss proved himself yet again and the team he gathered consisted of his family and their significant others. With a team of 12 we were able to spend one long~12 hour long!~ day and got it about 97% finished!!! YIPPEE! You can see the transformation of the house by clicking on the link to flickr...if I can figure out how to do that! God is so very good to me!

New Olympic Sport Invented

2007-06-15T14:42:00.000-04:00

A couple of Saturdays ago I invented a new sport that is not for the faint of heart. I am proposing it to the Olympic review committee: Extreme Roof Sliding. It works like this. Participants stand of the roof of a designated home. (NOTE: said home should have shingles, not tiles as they have NO friction.) On GO, participants jump and slide head first down the roof to see who can slide the farthest without going over the edge. If a participant should go over, s/he is immediately disqualified (and probably broken and bleeding, with a worst case scenario of death). The one who slides the farthest with the most roof rash wins. I proclaim myself to be the first ever gold medalist in this event.
Sigh. Always one to try things first and think them through later, this particular stunt may just go right to the head of the Dumb Things I've Done and Lived to Tell About List. I was up on the roof preparing the trim for painting. I have a story and a half house, with the half story coming up out of the middle like an island which I learned is pretty handy when you paint because you don't have to stand on ladders! So I was walking around the half story caulking and scraping. The west side of the house has an addition where my bedroom and travel room were added on and the roof drops off about a foot there. On this particular day, I worked my way around from the north side, scraped and caulked the east and south sides and was ready to start the west side. I had to duck under the eaves and somehow, in all my grace and coordination, I forgot about the drop off behind me. I missed my footing and there is nothing like slipping when up on a roof to get the ol' adrenaline going! Being pitched off balance by the one foot dangling over empty space, I flailed around for something to grab and ended up on my hands and knees headed head first down the roof. I slid a good six feet to the edge of the roof where my hands hit the gutter and with all my weight pushing me, I still have NO idea why I didn't just keep on going right over the edge. Chalk another one up for God's grace. Now I have pretty purple streaks from the scrapes and roof rash to remind me of God's grace to me.
I sat there for a while trying to stop shaking and warily made my way back to the window to climb back inside. Blood was freely flowing and I knew I didn't have Band-Aids nearly big enough. I called my mom to let her know of my life-flashing-before-my-eyes experience (and to request big Band-Aids) and being her merciful, compassionate self, she immediately says, "What were you doing on the roof all by yourself?!?" I'm shaking like a leaf and this is all it takes for me to realize that I have narrowly escaped the kind of obscure death where the neighbor finds you weeks later based on the odor. Tears flowing freely, I admit that it was perhaps among the top five of my stupid human tricks, but could she please bring some Band-Aids?? Now that I've had time to ponder and heal, I am thinking it is definitely at the very top of the list. Not for the faint of heart. Don't try this at home--alone!

Spring Break Disappointments and Disasters

2007-05-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

This is the first year in 17 years that I have not been able to go on a Spring Break trip. It came as a serious set back to my way of life. I still have not recovered from the disappointment. I thought several teachers were going to road trip to Niagara Falls, but it fell through a couple of months prior and I didn't have resources to come up with an alternative. Sigh. So, in order to salvage my break from being a complete disaster, I decided to hang out with the nephews and niece for the two weekends of break. Travis and Paul headed to Haiti for a mission trip (yeah, and why didn't I go with them??) and arranged with a family from church to watch the kids during the week. My planned excitement would be working at the church to make some extra cashola. However, Holden had a much greater plan of excitement in store. It turned into the biggest disaster to ever happen on my watch.
So, it is Friday afternoon the end of the week. I am planning to pick up the kids at the other family's house first thing Saturday morning. I have put off the school work I need to do until the last minute, so it is time to dive in to the report grading. I haven't even been at it for an hour when the phone rings. You know the ring...the kind that makes your heart stop followed by an adreneline rush. It was Rosemary asking if I happen to know the name of the boys' dentist. I do happen to know his name, but why? It seems that Holden has been out battling trampolines and losing. The boys were over at a friend's house jumping on the trampoline. Having never been exposed to the trampoline experience, they somehow thought it safe to all jump at the same time. Holden being the smallest got a little too much lift on the bounce, lost control and came down on his face. Teeth first. On the metal bar. It makes me hurt just remembering. Needless to say, he was a dead ringer for Frankenstein with the black gums and teeth shoved back into the middle of his mouth. I hung up, called the dentist office--which didn't have an emergency number, by the way--and immediately panic! Rosemary is coming from 40 minutes away and it would be much better for me to meet her in the middle. So I call the only other dentist I know in town (from church) to find out what we should do. She recommends the ER. I call Rosemary back. We will just take him to the ER at Mercy, the local hospital of choice. I follow up with a call to Mercy to let them know we will need a pediatric dentist or oral surgeon, but they don't have one on call!! Now we are on to plan C...which would be?? Duh, call the University Hospital (where Travis works)! It is staffed with pediatric dentists and oral surgeons. Finally, decision made, I am off like a bat out of you-know-where.

I am shaking and praying the whole way there. I parked by the ER (not an easy task as the hospital is HUGE) and walk in to the waiting room. Deep breath, Holden and Rosemary are already there. I really don't know what to expect except that it will be bad. Sure enough... Holdy calmly looks up at me, removes the bloody towel from his mouth and "smiles" saying "Hi, JoJo!" The gasp of horror was out of my mouth before I could call it back. I'll try to make a long story somewhat shorter by saying refer to the photos and gasp for yourself. We spent five hours at the hospital total. First we saw an ER doctor who immediately called for pediatric dentists, who immediately called for an oral surgeon...and X-rays, etc. This whole time I would have been beside myself crying and groaning. Holden was so incredibly good. He didn't cry until they started giving him the shots in his gums to numb and I cried too. (Crying now!) Man, what a trooper. We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home to get the prescriptions (11:00 PM) and collapsed into bed. I'm praying like there's no tomorrow because I am anxious he will wake up in the night in terrible pain. Instead he slept until 9:00 the next morning! When he awakened, he bolted upright in the bed and lisps all chipper-like, "JoJo, did the tooth fairy come??!!" And Aunt JoJo (AKA the Tooth Fairy) has to kick herself because she was way too worried about other things to even think about leaving money for him!!! I figure he's earned an easy million anyway. I quick told him that I had forgotten to leave his teeth for the Tooth Fairy and we would cash in when Mom and Dad got home. Boy, do Mom and Dad still owe me. I figure a good half of the grey on my head is from that night...

New Car Sent (Scent)

2006-12-11T16:05:00.000-05:00

I finally traded by good (HA!) ol' '94 Mazda 626 for new wheels. My friend Robin did all the hard work. My assignment from her was to read Consumer Reports New & Used Cars and narrow down the search field to a couple of possibilities. I called her with my choices: Hyundai Sonata, Kia Rio or Spectra or Chevy Cavalier (I loved my old Cavalier). She immediately poo-pooed the Chevy due to low re-sale value. Her work began by emailing dealers in the KC area to see who was going to give the best deal. She gathered information and emailed back and forth for weeks and was able to narrow it down to two dealerships. We were only going to have one day to find the car because we needed to take the new car to southern Missouri to visit her ailing mom. NO PRESSURE!! Again, good thing Robin had done all the leg work and could help me think clearly. I was near tears by the time we'd gone two places as I was only being offered $500 for my good ol' hunk o junk. That wasn't going to go far toward getting me anything more reliable than a Tonka truck and I don't think they let people drive those on the interstate. Fortunately, God went ahead of us to Independence Kia (which I recommend by the way). After a rigorous two hours of deliberation we finally had an agreed on price and I had the keys to a white 2006 Kia Spectra. It is now officially two months old and I love walking out of the house every morning knowing I'll get where I'm headed. Now if I can only figure where to come up with that car payment... :)

New News

2006-10-18T16:35:00.000-04:00

I have neglected writing for far too long. So many things have happened that I don't even know where to start! I started back to school in August, and not as a student. I am teaching middle school Bible and science. It is a bit overwhelming as I feel I am only one step ahead of the students on a good day! Most days I am more like a toe-length ahead. It is certainly a call to trust the Lord with each day as I feel so very ill-equipped to handle everything that comes along. It's been three years since I was last in the role of a teacher; one year since I was last in the classroom as a substitute. Needless to say, teaching new material in a new school with a new staff (several first year teachers!) is a real stretch. Might as well just jump right into the deep end if I'm going to learn how to swim!

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, the good part is that I love the school, the staff and the students. I am challenged daily to examine my own relationship with Christ as I have to stand up in front of class and instruct the Bible classes. WOW! I keep trying to tell them they hired the wrong person for that job...but God has some plan up His sleeve or something 'cause I'm still here. And science??! I just had to go through the reproductive system with the fifth/sixth graders. They REALLY got the wrong girl for that one! HA. And who says God doesn't have a sense of humor. I reckon He's yukking it up. The really fun part is that my two oldest nephews are now attending school here and I get to bring them to school most days. That gives me a little extra time to be with them and talk about stuff going on... and sometimes we pass in the halls and I get to sneak a kiss or hug. They LOVE school and that is a blessing. I am so grateful for where God has called me at this stage in my life. So why do I try to look ahead to see what is waiting at the next stage? I guess I should just stop and enjoy this one while I'm here.

Negativity

2006-06-06T09:46:00.000-04:00

Dark, nasty thoughts are all vying for attention today...so I am countering them by writing them down in a bright, cheery color! At least by writing them down they are out of my mind and maybe then I can get on with it...whatever IT is! So it has been one of those kinds of weeks where I struggle to keep my thoughts in check. The overly dramatic side of me has come to the forefront and is clamoring for attention. EVERYTHING is bad...my weight, my car, the "color" of my house, my weight, my hair, the amount of money I don't make, my weight, and my weight. Common theme...me. I hate it when I get stuck thinking it's all about me. Life is so much bigger!
I think all the negative thoughts have been called to attention by a challenging video I watched last night called TrueFaced. It is an introduction to the book of the same title and it is a major homerun hitter. The author, John Lynch, takes the text of Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith it is impossible to please God..." and boils it down to its essence. We live either by faith (trusting God) or trying to please God~as if we could ever do enough by performing! And the very sad truth is that I walk on the road of performance. I am just starting to understand the grace component but I don't get it. It is just too good to be true. Like one of those email scams that promises you get everything when you've done nothing. (Never get suckered into one of those, by the way...) I can't reconcile the grace side and the performance side. My brain just won't wrap around the concept, especially when everything in life seems to take so much effort and must be done to a set a criteria. Sigh. That's a lot of work. I'm sure glad there's grace!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back to Teaching I Go...

2006-05-10T18:17:00.000-04:00

God works in ways that are NOT even similar to mine. I prefer the direct front door approach. He has worked in so many different ways in my life that I don't necessarily see a pattern, but I do see that I have to be on the lookout! His most recent work in my life has been behind the scenes. In January I received a phone call from the Christian school where I had done some subbing last school year. This was out of the clear blue; they needed someone to start in one week as they had let a teacher go for a breach of contract. Needless to say I was dumbfounded, but thought I'd go interview for the heck of it. I LOVE my job at the church and just knew I wasn't going to be offered the position, so nothing to lose. They called and offered it to me. Now I really was in a quandary. After wrestling with this opportunity I decided it just wasn't the right thing to do--to just leave my job with no notice and not be guaranteed a position in the fall was too much risk. I found through this process that I still had a passion to teach that I didn't think I had anymore. All this was leading up to THE PHONE CALL at the end of March where the school administrator called and told me that they had decided to extend an offer to me for the fall. Oh boy! I got the call with the specifics on my birthday. Happy birthday to me! I was being offered middle school Bible and science (Why does it always come back to science?!) at a significant raise. The difficulty then became my complacency. I really enjoy my job and love the people I work with...how does one leave such a great thing? I had two weeks to wrestle with this and then the contract came from the school. Now it was real. I had a decision to make whether I wanted to or not. And quite frankly, the decision had clearly already been made in the heavenlies because I HAD NOT pursued this position; God had brought it to me as a gift. And so, I accepted the gift. It is bittersweet from the standpoint of leaving my current situation, but joyous when considering God is moving me forward. And I still have three months to adjust to the idea and train a replacement. But what an exciting time!

Changing My Look

2006-04-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I have contemplated doing it for years...and I finally decided to just go ahead and do it. Some people don't understand why (because I like it), some don't think I should have (I don't care), and some think it must have hurt (actually not as bad as having my ears done!). So what is all the hype about?? I got my nose pierced a month ago.
For the most part I forget it is even there until someone mentions it. The most common question asked is, "How do you blow your nose?" and I cheekily reply, "Just like you do...one nostril at a time!" The second most popular question is, "What made you decide to do it?" Well, actually when I lived in Thailand I did a lot of traveling around Asia. Nose piercing is pretty common in that part of the world and the look just really grew on me. Gave just a bit of sparkle to the side of the nose. Very dainty and pretty. I decided to wait until I came back to the US to have it done so that I wouldn't have to wonder about sterile equipment and such things. I encountered some strong opposition to the whole idea that I hadn't anticipated, however.
After three years of still thinking about it I just took the plunge. I had a friend call from Texas and say let's do it...so we deepened the bonds of friendship by holding each other's hands (figuratively) through the process. It really did hurt less than the top of the ear piercing.
Now the question I get asked is, "So what will you pierce next?" I don't have any other plans for piercings...I find body parts that don't show or are connected tightly to the body rather unattractive. And in actuality, my nose reminds me to pray for so many people who don't know Christ. Maybe it will actually give me some type of conversation opening that will lead to sharing Christ with someone who may think I'm a radical or liberal of sorts...what they don't know is that I am radical for Christ!

Highlights from the Czech Republic

2006-02-24T13:44:00.000-05:00

I just returned from two weeks in the Czech Republic for an English Awana Camp. It was an interesting format using English as a vehicle for Bible learning (especially since we used translators for the Bible teaching segments!), but hey, who am I to judge? I actually got sick on the third day there and was down for the count for the next three days. Nothing like being healthy on this side of the globe only to travel thousands of miles and find myself flat on my back in a very hard bed. I am choosing to look at it as my opportunity to spend time praying for my team.

We arrived in Prague and spent the day touring around the high spots: Charles Bridge, the castle, St. Wenceslaus Cathedral, Old Towne, and the market. It was nice to see more of the city. When I was there in '92 we only saw the shopping district down by the train station. It is truly a beautiful city. Anyway, we took the train out to the eastern part of Czech to a small village called Trinec (pronounced Tree nits). That is where we stayed for the camp. We had 31 kids from 8-17 with varying degrees of English ability. It was a nice size group to work with because we were able to break them into small group of 5 or 6 to work on English grammar and conversation. The main problem encountered was that they are taught British English in the schools, and well, we speak American English! (There are some differences as we have corrupted the Queen's English!) I really bonded with my group of 6 girls even though I was only with them part of the week.

Please be in prayer for these girls. Miriam is very grounded in the Word, so I pray that she would continue on. Jola (prounounced Yola) is a very strong Christian who is reaching out to her friends Barca (prounounced Basha) and Petra. Pray that both of these young ladies would place their trust in Christ. Ela is Jola's sister, is a Christian and also has a very soft heart for people. Their father has some very serious back problems that landed him in the hospital our last day in Trinec. Agata has some measure of understanding of who Christ is, so pray that it would move from her head to her heart. You can tell that I am not quite my fully functioning self in the picture. :) Oh well! To Him be the glory.

Life is Hard...

2006-02-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

You know, this past month has been rather, well, yucky. The holidays were a bit more soap operatic than I can ever remember and while I find drama fun and exciting, sometimes it is just in poor taste. Such was the case this year. I won't go into details here as that would only serve to validate the drama, but if you know me you can call for more information! :)

I am finding that Seasonal Affective Disorder may just be real! Winter is just blah; no wonder I feel blah! OK, well there is that depression thing, but it definitely is more exacerbated by the lack of sunshine and color in the world. At least in the tundra...I wonder how Santa can be such a "jolly old elf" when all he ever sees is white, snow and polar bears!! Just kidding. I do wonder how people who have it so much worse than I do cope...but that is where Christ comes in. Thank God (literally) for Him bringing hope. I don't know what people do without Him. What a hopeless existence when life is hard. The song is true: Life is hard, but God is good.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

2005-12-22T14:03:00.000-05:00

It started snowing the week before Thanksgiving...and the snow is still here. I hate the snow. Actually, that is not entirely true. I despise the cold that accompanies the snow. Today is the first official day of winter and it's like a heat wave outside--37 degrees F. How's that for irony? First day it has been above freezing since the snow started last month; also the first day of melting and it is the first day of winter. Go figure.

So the first snowfall of the year was a robust four inches. Two days later we got hit with more snow; four more inches. I was nannying for two little girls and couldn't even get my car out of the driveway. Fortunately, their family had a four-wheel drive they had left just in case. All the girls got was a two-hour delay which meant I was late to work. Whatever happened to good, old fashioned snow days?? Give me a complete cancellation instead of a teaser. I had to figure out the snow blower so I could go home two days later. That was a whole 'nother challenge. Whatever happened to cheap slave labor (interpreted kids) doing the work? We got hit each of the next two weeks with a couple more inches until there were somewhere in the ballpark of ten inches piling up outside my window. The snow piles at the end of driveways and parking lots are in a league of their own and not even worth estimating. It would make me nauseous to know.

The only redeeming part about snow is the snowballs. You can really express your frustration with the world in a couple of quick flicks of the wrist (assuming your boss is on the receiving end of the snowball!). As every good aunt would do, I have taught my nephews how to pack a good snowball and wait for just the right moment to zing it. The moments rolling around with them in the snow really make it worthwhile, assuming I don't end up with snow down my pants!

Kansas City Chiefs Fans

2005-12-20T11:34:00.000-05:00

Go Chiefs! These cuties are already die-hard fans. We have them well trained. :) Alayna (17 months), Holden (4), Riley (6), and Gabe (8 1/2) love to wear their Chiefs gear. In fact, one of Alayna's favorite things to say during a game is, "Yeah, Chiefs! (sounds more like cheese) Touchdown! (sounds more like ta-down)" We try to do a Chiefs picture every fall to keep track of how much they have grown, and it is always too much!! These guys make living in the Tundra worthwhile!

Another Day in the Life...

2005-11-22T18:45:00.000-05:00

Another exciting week in my life. The week began by a dentist appointment on Monday afternoon that ended in a referral to the periodontist to see if I needed a root canal. Sigh. Wednesday morning before 7:00 AM I displayed my great and rare talent to inflict pain upon myself in seemingly innocent ways. I was leaving for a ladies group at church and decided I should have a piece of toast. So it was with the butter knife in hand I spotted the glass votive candle holder that had burned down to only a small ring around the sides. I decided I might as well make the most of my wait time and pop that wax out of there...with the butter knife I had in my hand already. Not such a good idea; don't try this at home! That wax just didn't pop out of there, so I pushed down a little harder and stabbed right through the bottom of the glass into my waiting hand. (FYI--Hands really bleed well, though not so well as heads but that's another story!) So it was with a bloody knife in hand that I called my sister and said, "Ummm, what should I do??" Off to the ER I went; an hour later, two stitches in each of two fingers later, and one BIG honking ER bill later (I hadn't received my new insurance card yet!!) I finally made it to work. I don't recommend typing (trying to type) with two bandaged and numb fingers.

That's only Wednesday! So Thursday I had to go visit the periodonist to be evaluated for a root canal and he makes a speedy decision that, yes, we should just go ahead and get 'er dun. So in a twenty four hour period I had more novocaine than my body has had in my thirty four years combined! Needless to say, I was a bit loopy by the time he was finished...and I still didn't have my new insurance card! I talked like a drunken foreigner as I had a very difficult time forming distinct sounds. Cheap entertainment for some, very expensive necessity for me!