Crazy Day

So first, I have a wierd, disturbing dream (no, I'm not telling - too wierd) and didn't sleep well. I get up, and today is a nasty, cold, rainy day. These are the worst, aren't they? Well, I think so. Especially when I've not slept welll, 'cause then I really don't feel like getting out of bed. :(

I get ready and head off for work. Get there, and for whatever reason, it's only supposed to be a half day - 2nd half at that. How I missed that, I'll never know...maybe it called me when I was sick?? Can't remember, but oh well. So, since I'm up and ready, the secretary calls the admin office to see if they need help anywhere. Turns out they couldn't get a sub for someone at HHCC. Ok, I can do it, no biggie, but I have to be back at JC by 11:30. So I drive across town, stay there until 10:45, and go back to JC. What's sad is they were not able to find anyone, and so other teachers (or an admin, not sure) had to cover the afternoon classes. They went well, and I'm home now, but I want a nap and can't have one. It'll soon be time to go catch the bus for class, then teach dance class.

Also, while driving all over B-town, I got a call from Big T - he's accepted a position at a job in L-ville. He's moving away!!! :( I'm so sad. I've enjoyed having him around and watching him work w/ the teens. I think he's learned a lot, and I know they have, too! He will be missed. At least L-ville isn't toooo far away...but far enough!
T, you're not allowed to move any further!

Mari, too, has had a bad day. His fav writer quit. Long story, not at all pleasant. :( I'm sure he's just as worn out as I am. Hmmm...wonder if I can do something to make him happier tonight? No time to cook...what to do??

I wish I had known it was a 1/2 day teaching, I really could have used the nap!

Home Again

We're back!
We had lots of fun, stuffed ourselves silly with both sides of the family, played several games of Euchre, got one good long walk in, laughed and talked and got into more than one political debate with Mari's aunt (no, Mari did not start it!)

I was even asked by Mari's grandmother when we would be having kids...apparently I should be pregnant after 1 year of marriage. Or thinking about it at least? Umm, no. Not yet.

Sadly, however, this means that Mari will have to wait another year before he gets to again taste his favorite dessert: Sweet-potato Pudding. No, I don't have the recipe. Yes, it is good, even to a girl who doesn't like sweet potatoes (it's the crunchy brown sugar topping that does you in, I'm telln' ya). Me? Well, lucky for me my favorite gets revived several times during the holiday/winter season: Persimmon Pudding. Best stuff in the world - but you have to have our old family recipe. Trust me!!

What did you all do? Write me or leave a comment: I'd love to hear about it! ^_^

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving.

No, not the turkey. I'm one of the very few wierdos who isn't a fan of turkey. It's good, I like it, but I'll be going for the glazed ham, thanks. ^.^ I'll have leftover turkey sandwiches later - mmm, mayo and turkey w/ tomato!

I love getting together with family. Any reason, any excuse will do. Sometimes my family just heads over to someone's house and has a pitch-in dinner, which results is lots of laughs and a late night. But the holidays are an even better excuse! Besides actually planning a meal ahead of time, we spend more time together. Eat lunch, go for a walk, play cards/games, eat dinner, talk, watch a football game w/ my grandpa, etc. No, it doesn't sound thrilling, but it is a lot of fun.

And, of course, I always think about all of our family and friends who are far away. Some are off galavanting around the world, some are called to a higher form of giving of themselves. Some will return soon, others will be gone a bit longer.

So, to all of you out there:

I love you, miss you, and am thankful for you and your love this Thanksgiving.

And for those of you who have family nearby:

Get off the computer, go make some pumpkin muffins, and go see your family!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Non-Bookworm

I know what you're asking. Well, I'm ashamed of this, but....it's my husband!! :( So disapointed. Here's his results:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Non-Reader You always prefer to see the movie. Bookstores make you nervous, so you avoid them. You think people who read are often doing it to make you look dumb.
Fad Reader
Book Snob
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Dedicated Reader

(Again, you can go to my xanga site to see the bar graphs.)
And, for the record, he's not afraid of bookstores: he does like books, he "just doesn't have time to read". (But don't let him fool you - he's really there just for the coffee).

Bookworm

That is an able adjective that has been often used to describe me. But I found a survey on a friend's site that I thought was interesting, so I had to give it a shot. Here's what I got:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Literate Good Citizen You read to inform or entertain yourself, but you're not nerdy about it. You've read most major classics (in school) and you have a favorite genre or two.
Dedicated Reader
Book Snob
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader

What Kind of Reader Are You?
Create Your Own Quiz

(You can't see the red bar graphs, but I received approx 88% "Dedicated Reader", 75-80% "Book Snob" and "O-C Bookworm", 2% "Fad Reader", and 0% "Non-Reader". Overall? I fit 88% into this category. If you want to actually see the bar graps, see my xanga site.)

So, what do you think? Did it peg my correctly? lol Hey, had to ask. ^.^

If you liked that one, you serious geeks out there try out this one: The Genius Quiz. Be sure to tell me how you did!

Guess what?

Yep. You got it. I'm sick, too.

Busy Saturday coming up. May not be able to help with the Youth ministry thing Sat, but I am definately going to have to teach the Tandem Charleston lesson for club. There's just no one else to teach it w/ Mari (who is feeling better).

BTW, I have three papers to write. One due next week and two due 11/28. Don't you love college life?

For everything there is a season...

And a purpose under Heaven.

Pray that God is in control tonight during our lesson. Big T and I have some hard things to say to the kids about something we know does not fit what they have been claiming to believe. Biblical accountability and discipline is not my favorite part of this job, but it is a necessary one. And it is time for one of those talks.

Like they say in the Education world: If we do not hold them to a high standard and expect excellence, who will? It must start with the teachers; the students will then begin to set attainable and high goals for themselves as they realize that they can achieve.

What better excellence is there than knowing that your life pleases God? I for one cannot think of any, and I want them to know that kind of satisfaction. It is beautiful and fulfilling.

Happy Birthday!!

I decided to copy this from my xanga site, where I post things for Gwyn. She has trouble seeing blogger sometimes, but I wanted this here, too, for the memories.

To Gwyn! ^.^

This is dedicated to my bestest friend's very special day. I love her so much, and she's very far away right now. It's sad not to be able to give her a hug and spend time with friends on momentous occations. And, yes, Gwyn, living a quarter of a century (and successfully, at that!) is momentous! ;)

Come to think of it, wasn't it around your b-day our junior year that we met?

Memories:
Teaching me how to waltz in front of BHSN.
Cougars for Christ (ugh, those were early mornings!!)
Mrs. Frye & Jason (do I need to say anything more?)
Graduation
Re-discovering our friendship in the middle of college...all in God's time.
Love. All kinds of love (including certain boys who-shall-go-unnamed-and-who-kept-us-up-long-nights-worrying! lol ;)
Dancing!!!!
Jane Austin movie nights.
Holes!!
BCM - hanging out at Jon's!
Amman trip
Petra!!!
The Jordan River and the Dead Sea!
Lemony Snicket
9/24/05 -
Which meant so much to me that you planned and worked and stuck around just to be there!! :D

Here's to all the fun so far...and the fun that God has planned for us in the future!

I LOVE YOU, GWYN!!!

Hate cutting onions?

Me, too!

That's why I want to tell you all about an amazing discovery I've come across. Now there's no more need to cut up onions every time you want to give a little zing to your dinner! All you have to do is cut up one more onion than your recipe calls for and, get this, stick it in a zip-lock baggie (be sure to get the air out) and put it in your veggie drawer. It made cooking tonight's spaghetti and meat sauce so easy! No tears!! ^_^

What if you only need part of an onion? Well, you can dice up what you don't use and take the above suggestion, or you can just wrap your half up in a sandwich bag in a paper towel (really helps cut down on that obnoxious refrigerator-onion smell) and stick in a zip-lock. This other half is a wonderful ready-to-use addition to salads. (yes, sadly, some careful thin-slicing is necessary)

Yeah, ok, so I have to admit the paper towel idea is not original. It was Mari's. Hey, husbands are good for something after all! (you just have to watch them most of the time...) ^.^

Le pauvre

Mari is not feeling well today. He's got a bit of a cold. It's not serious, but an annoying runny nose and lack of energy. Le pauvre petit.

He's very worried about giving it to me, which I find rather cute and rather amusing at the same time. I mean, we're both busy, for one, and we are around each other all the time. I also am one up on him: I'm around thousands of kids each week. Isn't that a pleasant thought? lol

If I'm gonna get sick, I'm gonna get sick. But, no, I don't want to. And, yes, I am taking vitamins and getting enough sleep. In fact, I'm headed that way right now....to join a sick boy. ^_^

Mercury Transit

No, this isn't a new bus route. The planet Mercury is going to be crossing in front of the sun this afternoon. If you aren't an amature astronomer, this may not mean much to you, but I'm very excited about it.

If you want to see it, but don't own or know anything about telescopes, I would not recomment trying to view the transit live. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN, ESPECIALLY WITH EQUIPMENT DESIGNED TO MAGNIFY LIGHT!! There, I warned you.

I'm going to be online looking at the transit. Yes, there are many places to go, one suggestion is: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ They have lots of good info on the event as well, so take a minute and use the internet to learn something new.

At the top of the page, there should be a link for an online feed (if not today, then tomorrow). Happy Viewing!

Vote!

If you have, you have upheld the rights given to you and confirmed our founding fathers' faith and trust in the intelligence of the public.

If you haven't yet, why not?? I know it's not a presidential election year, but local government is so instrumental in our daily lives: education, law enforcement, prosecution of criminals, the list goes on and on. I cannot think of anyone who would say they do not care about their local community and the people with whom they live and work. So why do stats show that less people show up to vote on off years? Why??

So here's the Q:
Did you vote today? If so, what were your reasons? If not, why did you choose to not make your opinion known?

Holla back, y'all!

I'm baaack!

The weekend with the girls went very well. We left the church around 4:30, arrived just before 7:00 pm. Food (meals and snacks), small group break-outs, worship, a three-part message (throughout the retreat), games, decorating flip-flops, karaoke, and much more was all crammed into the next 18 hrs. We packed up the van and left for home around 12:30 pm Saturday. Stopped for lunch and arrived at home base at 2:45 pm.

It was good. I think almost all of the girls took something away from the sessions; I know I did. Pray that they will think about what God showed them and continue to keep it in their minds and hearts until it becomes a part of their lives. If we forget, we do not change. If we do not change, we do not better ourselves as Christians. If we do not better ourselves, we will not be prepared for what the Lord has set for us to do.

We would never let ourselves be slack about political or professional knowledge, so we have no excuse for not putting God's words and desire for us in a position of importance in our lives. Lord, help us to never be content with where we are in our knowledge, understanding, and relationship with You.

I'm off!

Taking youth girls on a weekend retreat. Pray for me. Pray for Mari! ;)

It'll be fun, but I'm going into this thing already tired. Need prayers. Thanks, all.

Da-da-da!

Da da da da daaaa daa!
It's really too bad that you can't hear the creepy music in my head! :)

Mari and I attended another unusual evening activity last night: we watched The Phantom of the Opéra at the IU Auditorium last night. Dennis James, who has revived the playing of live music with silent films, played the Roosevelt pipe organ at the Auditorium.

It was great. I'd never seen the original PotO before, and boy, was that Lon Chaney scary! Mari and I both jumped when the Phantom was unmasked in the film: it was so sudden and the lighting was so well done you just couldn't help it! What's even better is that it was entirely real: some wires to keep his nose, ears, and eye sockets in place and some stage makeup to make him more creepy. They succeeded! (However, there were definately a few bits in the movie that made you wonder if they had been written with the express purpose of some comic relief!)

Dennis James, besides being an absolute ham when given the opportunity with a microphone, had a wonderful musical performance. There were several creative pieces that caught my attention and so I sometimes couldn't help watching him play rather than the show! He played so well and it was timed so precisely that I sometimes forgot the music was live. Most of the music he had prepared ahead of time: some old original scores that had historically been played with the piece, some he himself created for the film. And, of course, I think he was partly making it up as he went! It was mesmerizing; I became completely entranced - he even gave a scream at one point for the heroine! lol It was so unexpected, I jumped!

I highly recommend old black & whites to begin with, but after getting the experience of live (vs. dubbed) musical accompaniment, I encourage anyone to attend at least one performance. It's definately an unusual and entertaining experience.