what a week (part one).

When I last left you, all I had to say was the same old thing.  Well, let me tell you, when it rains, it pours.  Last week was insanely busy.  So busy I didn't even work.  (There are definite pros and cons to having a flexible work schedule.)  Anyway, here's just a taste...

Saturday began with the family trekking across town with three of our vehicles to get the tires rotated and brakes checked.  Mine was done first, so I left for a VBS meeting at church.  After I got all of my many supplies and announcements, it was time to decorate the classroom.  This was also the time I first met both of my classroom helpers.  (Well, I had met one of them at the previous meeting.)  They were both very sweet ladies, but one of them had knee replacement surgery and has very little energy.  Needless to say, when it came to climbing on chairs and tables to decorate, she wasn't much help.  But my family arrived just in time to help.  Without them, I would have been there all day doing it alone.  After a little Chick-fil-A lunch break, we were finished by 1:30.  After that, we went furniture shopping for Lindsay.  She just moved to a new apartment and is in the market for a new sofa, dresser, table and chairs, and entertainment unit with plenty of room for DVD storage.  We basically spent the rest of the afternoon looking at different furniture stores.  She found some stuff she liked, but nothing was purchased that day. We then went and picked up my grandma and took her to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Sinaloa.  Yum! 

Sunday was Father's Day, which meant Nascar races for some people.  (Not me.)  Speaking of Nascar, for Father's Day we gave my dad the Nascar Driving Experience, which means he gets to take a class and then actually drive a car.  We actually really surprised him and I think he is excited about it.  It's not until October, though.  After that, my mom and I went to church and then put up a few more decorations in my VBS classroom (we needed to wait until Sunday school was done).  We went back home, had lunch, and just hung out the rest of the day.  I don't remember doing much else, other than spending some time remembering the fathers (my grandfathers) that are no longer here to celebrate with us.  I'll be honest, it was a little weird to have just my dad there. 

Monday came bright and early - first day of VBS!  I don't remember if I actually said it before, but I was the lead teacher for a 3rd grade class.  Which actually means they just finished 3rd grade and should really be considered 4th graders now.  My list of kids started with 12 on Saturday and had grown to 20 by the end of the week.  Most of them were great.  There's always one or two that exasperate you/wear you out.  I think I had four.  They weren't bad kids, of course, a couple of them were just socially awkward and really hard to interact with.  A couple of them obviously had some other issues.  Also, one of my helpers wasn't able to be there on Monday.  The one that was there was, again, very nice, but not able to do much as far as helping goes.  I learned after that day to not ask her to do things.  She either assisted the other helper or sat back.  I really didn't care, but I felt obligated to give her things to do that first day.  Anyhow, it was a good morning.  I was really tired, too!  All I wanted was to go home and rest for awhile.  Well, I got to rest that afternoon, but it wasn't very relaxing.  My parents and I left around 2:00 for Ventura.  My dad had a cyst that has been on his back for years.  In recent days, though, it had grown into a huge lump on his back (think Quasimodo...haha, just kidding).  It was noticeable through his shirt though.  What was more troublesome than that, though, was the fact that it was oozing and seemed to be infected.  So, like I said, we took him down to see a surgeon.  We went there because my uncle, who is a doctor, recommended him, and that was faster than trying to get in to see someone locally.  His appointment was at 4:00, and by 4:20 the doctor came out and told my mom and I that he was going to go ahead and remove it, probably about 20 minutes or so.  Forty minutes later, he came out and got my mom so he could show her the crater on my dad's back.  You see, she had been nominated as nurse and official gauze back packer, and he needed to show her what to do.  Meanwhile, I was left in the waiting room, eavesdropping unintentionally on the receptionist who obviously didn't have enough work to do.  She made numerous phone calls to family members and then the city planning office about some work that was being done on her house.  Good stuff right there.  I even memorized her cell phone number for a short time after she gave it out to someone she was talking to.  I should have saved it and called her to get updates on her house.  While the surgery was happening, by the way, my sister had been contacted and she decided to leave work and drive up to check on dad.  It was slightly concerning given the placement of the cyst and the fact that this same doctor a year ago wanted to do the surgery in a surgery center in case of complications and the fact they were dealing with the spine and all that.  I think the only thing that sped up the process was the fact it was infected.  Lindsay ended up just meeting us in Camarillo for a quick dinner.  We then made a couple of returns/exchanges at the outlet mall and then headed home.  We got home around 9, I think, but I still had some preparations to do for VBS on Tuesday. 

standouts.

The first week of So You Think You Can Dance did not disappoint.  These were the standout routines of the week for myself.  But, really, they were all pretty good. 
The first is a Contemportary number:



The second is a Quickstep.  I think it is safe to say the curse of the Quickstep was broken.  Or maybe that's just when you have a world champion ballroom dancer as your partner...Either way, this was fantastic.

random tidbits.

Not a whole lot of new happening around here.  Doing the same old thing as far as work, still in the process of cleaning my room...pretty boring stuff, really.  So, here's a few random bits of information from the last little while:
1. Got my last check from substitute teaching today, which is both good and bad (good to get the money, bad/sad it's the last one for about four months). 

2. Confession: I rarely wash fruit when it's just me eating it.  I've come to realize this more as my fruit consumption has increased, especially with strawberries.  Unless there is visible dirt, I'm not terribly worried about it.  That probably stems from eating grapes fresh from the field...or laziness.  Don't worry, though...if somebody else is eating it, I wash it...I'm not that lazy.

3. Oh, big news: We're pretty sure the chihuahua pack next door has been reduced from 8 members down to (only) 4.  They still manage to escape, though, only now it's out the front.

4. For graduation my parents got me a Wii.  This weekend I bought Wii Fit Plus with some graduation money.  Using it for two days has confirmed my knowledge that I have no balance.  Hopefully that will change with continued use.

5. I am currently trying to get a tan on my shoulders/neck because they are white...and I have to wear a sleeveless dress in a little over a month for a wedding.  I sat outside for 30 minutes on Monday and succeeded in getting a bit of a burn.  Today the burn has progressed into the itching stage, which is terribly annoying.

6. I hate the summer heat.  It's currently 97 degrees outside.  How quickly the cool weather is forgotten...

7. Bakersfield is getting a Yogurtland.  I don't know when it's opening, but it's pretty close to home, so that is exciting!

8. This weekend is Fathers' Day, next week is VBS, so maybe I'll have some interesting material to share with you.  Until then...

thursday's field trip.

If you don't already know, my mom and I work for a grape farmer (my mom full time, me part time and during the summer).  Recently the company has purchased some new land to plant on south of town.  Yesterday we were given the grand tour of the new ranch, seeing the beginning stages of planting.  The rows are laid out and the planting was just getting started.  It was really fun to see the "behind the scenes" look at this side of the operation.  Here we are each planting one vine:

I'm pretty sure the workers who were on their lunch break thought we were crazy, but it was fun!  Only two years until we can taste the fruits of our labor!

on repeat.

You may have heard this song before, but I just can't get it off my mind.  It's been circling around in there for days.





 It may not always be easy to hear, but it's true.

this week.

I'm still in the in between stage of substitute teaching and working four different part time jobs to equal full time work this summer.  I'm working from home, well, when everything is cooperating.  Half the time when I'm working on the server, the printers will disappear.  It happens for no apparent reason.  So sometimes I get stalled until it decides to work again.  It's fantastic.  I'm also supposed to be working on cleaning my room and closet.  Yes, it's been a long time coming.  Yes, it's really going to happen this time.  The plan is to literally drag everything out of my closet and pile it in the hallway and Lindsay's room.  Then I'll do some serious cleaning out and put it all back neatly.  It sounds so fun, I can hardly wait to get started.  That's pretty much my week, beside running errands, going out to eat (twice today), and seeing friends.  Boy, it sounds pretty rough when you put it that way...


Also, project get a kitten has commenced.  Mom's on board, just have to convince Dad.  I'm not sure it possible, but it's all about the timing.  We shall see...

there's something about those eyes.

Those eyes have seen more pain, more hurt, and more darkness than I can even imagine.  They may have gone to bed hungry last night, had to drink water I would never touch, or helped their family make a meager amount of money to just get by on.  But there's also something about that smile, that joy on their face, an childlike innocence still intact despite all they have known.

Take a moment.  Look into their eyes and imagine what their life is like.  Imagine living that life.  And then, imagine if there was something you could do to change that life.

This is 9 year old Beatrice, who lives in Tanzania. 
And this is Nobel, an almost 6 year old boy in Ghana.
Here is 7 year old Noreen and 5 year old Christian from the Philippines.
And the list goes on and on with Batete, Samara, Sergio, and Innocent, and the thousands more like them.
It would seem that choosing just one makes no difference at all.  But imagine if you were them, how different life would really be.  To know that you are important and special.  To know that someone on the other side of the world knows your name, loves you, prays for you, writes to you, supports you, and encourages you. 

One great joy in my life is the sponsorship of "my kids" all around the world.  I love getting their letters, seeing pictures, and writing back to them.  It's a simple joy for me, really, but something that has changed their lives drastically.  How awesome that God can use something so small from me to bless these lives a world away.

The need is so great.  How I wish that I could sponsor more.

(I'm not trying to persuade you really, but rather to show you my heart.  But, if I did persuade you and you'd like to know more, email me.)