sleepless.

No, I'm not in Seattle.  It's been approximately three weeks since I've had a really good night's sleep.  Ok, that's not entirely true.  I slept pretty good last night and two nights ago.  But nowhere near enough  to make up for the cumulative lost sleep of 20 nights or so.  How I'm still walking, I'm not sure.

In other news...today I had one of the best classes I've ever subbed in.  It was a 1st/2nd combo class and just a good group of kids.  Considering I was at a school that doesn't have the best reputation in the district, it was a very welcome surprise. 

School update: I still have those four papers looming over me.  I need to get at least 2 of them done this weekend and then plan to get the other 2 done during the week next week.  That makes this the last weekend of homework for the forseeable future of my life.  To say I'm excited is an understatement.  Although the reality hasn't fully set in, so it mostly just feels like the end of any other semester.

(14 days)

trapped.

I was going to pick up my mom for lunch today.  I set the alarm and walked to the front door.  I saw Sweetie (the cat) out front and intended to let her in before I locked it.  She distracted me, but thankfully I looked down before I stepped outside.  There lay a pile of feathers, guts, wings, and other bird parts that Sweetie had so lovingly dropped off on the doorstep. (If you know me, you probably know that I hate birds.  It was so nasty and there was really nowhere to step in order to lock the door.

I slammed the door back shut and called my mom, telling her I was a bit trapped.  She suggested I go out the side gate. So, I set the alarm again and went out through the garage to go out the gate.  Easier said than done.  The gate is warped and extremely difficult to open and close.  I got it open, went out, but absolutely could not, despite my best efforts, get the gate to close.  I tried pulling, yanking, slamming, nothing.  I called mom again telling her I was again stuck and would be a few minutes.  I finally had to lift the gate and pull in order for it to latch.

All I wanted was to go to lunch.  I ended up working up a sweat just trying to leave.

(Oh, and yes, the bird is still out there, just waiting for somebody else to come home and clean it up...)

my creation.

A few weeks ago, my mom, sister and I went to Creation Craze, a local pottery studio like Color Me Mine, only cheaper.  When I was there a few weeks before with some friends, I saw the coasters that you could paint and decided to them the next time I was there. 

Here they are:



I think they turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself)!

monday and tuesday.

Not much new in the last couple of days...

1. One more day of class down, which means I have exactly one left next Monday.  I still have those four papers, though.  It will be much more exciting when those are done.

2. I've applied for a few more jobs.  We'll see about.  I'm not giving up, but I'm not holding out too much hope either.

3. I got a call to sub for 6th grade today.  I passed.  Partly because it's sixth grade in the last few weeks of school, partly because I have a load of work to do for my mom that I'm behind on.

4. Bible study tonight.

Pretty exciting around here, folks.

a look back.

I've started to write a blog a few times, but then stopped myself.  I think I'm still processing where I'm at.  The hope and disappointment of the job are (mostly) gone.  It's like so much has changed, yet everything remains the same as a year ago.  I'm another year older, another year of experiences, another year of school and another degree finished.  And yet, it all seems so familiar, like the same place I was a year ago. 

In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago that I made the decision to go back to school.  It was just a few weeks later that Papa started to get progressively worse.  I struggled through the reality of substitute teaching and that not being what I really wanted to do.

And, looking back, I can see how so many of those and other prayers have been answered.  So, it's not as though I'm saying nothing has happened in a year's time.  Just take a look at the history of this blog and you can catch a glimpse of the long, hard year that was 2010.  Yet, God showed up in some big ways, too. 

I was talking to some friends a couple of days ago that are in a similar position that I'm in.  Maybe it's just characteristic of this phase of life, feeling directionless to some degree. My prayers have been that the Lord would guide me to where He wants me.  He shut the door to the job opportunity and there have been no other leads.  So, it seems I'm right where He wants me.  You know, "they" say that God uses the hard moments to teach us.  I wonder what, exactly, I'm supposed to be learning right now...to me it sounds like "Wait.  Just wait."

So, I will.  Even if I complain a bit along the way, I'll wait.

(18 days)

mom.

I can't let Mother's Day pass without this:

Love you, Mom!  You do so much and I am so thankful for you :)

new wallet.

I got a new wallet a few weeks ago. After 6 years of plenty of use, I decided it was time.  I opened it up today to finally switched to it and took a closer look at this info card they have placed inside:

Please, steal my identity along with my wallet.  I've place all of my pertinent information on one card for your convenience. 

Seriously, what criminal was hired to create this thing?