Dazed and Confused

The past few nights I've been awakened by my phone. I use the alarm on my phone so when it beeps I'm use to getting up. So Saturday night/Sunday morning my phone began beeping. I was in such a deep sleep that I thought it was time to get up and get ready for church. Luckily I looked at the clock and it was 2:00 am--I had only been asleep for 2 hours. Apparently someone sent me a text message at this time. Then last night at around 3:00 am I received a phone call--a wrong number. Again I thought it was my alarm going off. Sheesh! I'm hoping tonight will be a night without interruptions.

The best dazed story I have happened my freshman year of college. My roommate and I were peacefully sleeping when our phone rang. Neither of us answered but I looked at my watch and saw that it was past 8:00 am. Well, I was suppose to be at the Provost office for work at 8. So I jump off my bed and start frantically trying to get ready and call my office to let them know what has happened. No one was answering so I figured my boss was on the phone. My roommate, Christy, asked what I was doing and I told her I was late for work. She sleepily asked "is it Friday". Then after a few seconds she said "Erin, it's Saturday. Go back to bed!" Stupid me!


P.S. I still want a dog.

Girl's Weekend

This weekend my mom and sisters came to visit me. On Saturday they came up to the museum while I was working. Last time they came to visit they only had 10 minutes to see the museum so this time they were able to spend an hour looking at everything. (Pictures of the museum can now be found on my facebook page). After work we went and had a wonderful dinner at Freebirds.

Sunday I taught my first lesson in the three year old class. It went great! I was worried because I was teaching the tabernacle which is a hard concept. But the kids were very attentive and remembered the word tabernacle! After church we went and ate at TGI Fridays. Man, I haven't been there in a long time...I had one heck of a burger! Later that night we went and saw Fun with Dick and Jane--such a funny movie! After the movie we sort of exited out the door that put us in the back of the theater. So we had to walk all the way around the building...in the rain.

Monday my sisters and I slept in while my mom did some work. Then for lunch we went to Pei Wei which is a fantastic chinese food restaurant (it's part of P.F. Chang's). After lunch I took my sisters to see my new favorite store--World Market. At around 3:30 my company was on the road and it was a little quieter. It was a wonderful weekend! Now back to the grind of work. (By the way: I think I'm going to sign up for the Jitterbug class--thanks Julie and Robin for the advice!)

Tonight I found a website that lists classes that are available to the community of College Station. All of the classes are during the weekdays and at night. This would be a perfect way to spend some of my evenings and possibly a way to meet new people. Some of the possible classes I would like to take include:

* Spanish I
* Sign Language I
* Jitterbug
* Latin Dance
* Ballroom Dancing
* Calligraphy I
* Tae Kwon Do
* Pilates
* Yoga Fitness I
* Tennis Lessons
* Private Pilot Ground School

There are so many to choose between. Registration starts January 17 so I need to choose one...or maybe 2!

Anger

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
James 1:19-20

Last night I began reading James and I came upon this passage that really got to me. I'm not good at being mad at people. I'm a people-pleaser. I have to make things right. The last time I didn't talk to someone was freshman year of college when one of my guy friends mooned me. Kind of stupid but I'd never had that happen before and I didn't talk to him for 2 or 3 days.

This passage really hit me because I know it's God's rule that we shouldn't remain angry at one another. The problem is I feel like I have a right to remain angry. I also have a slight stubbornness issue. I feel that if I give in and make things right that I'm admitting I was in the wrong. I'm just a little muddled right now.

Sleep Problems

Since I've been back in CS I've had trouble sleeping. It could be because for two weeks I was use to going to bed around 2:00 and waking up at 10:00 or 11:00. Another factor could be that so much has happened and my mind starts racing over everything--and I can't shut it off.

Work was pretty crazy today. My phone kept ringing and ringing with people wanting to schedule a tour. At this time in the year it's very tricky to fit everyone in. I like being busy though--it keeps me focused.

I had my first job evaluation meeting with Anne. She gave me some very nice complements. She said I have met her expectations and appreciates my effective work and professional attitude. She told me she doesn't regret her decision to hire me at all (which was good to hear because I thought of that sometimes).

Last night I was searching online for places that I could volunteer my time. One that I found was at the hospital not too far from my apartment. They needed people who would be there to visit with/interact with the patients and their families. It sounds like a good volunteer opportunity and a good way to fellowship with people. I'm going to keep searching but this is a good possibility.

My first day in the three-year-old classroom was great! They are so cute. And I am going to be the co-teacher of the class. I will be teaching every other week--whoa! My first lesson is next week and I'm teaching the tabernacle of all things. I'm not sure who thought this curriculum up. It's hard enough to teach it to college students let alone three-year-olds. I will find a way...

Did you know stamps are going up to $.39 tomorrow?

Tomorrow is usually my day off from work but I have a meeting at Blinn in Brenham. They are introducing the new staff members and so I need to be there. I kept wondering if I was suppose to go into work afterwards or not. After seeing my work load on Saturday I realize I need to go in and make a lot of phone calls.

After two weeks with friends and family it's a little hard coming back to College Station. I do enjoy it here, but I really haven't found a group of friends to hang out with which makes it a little hard. But I hope to put my plan in action to start an ultimate frisbee chapter in CS.

My drive home last night was very enjoyable. Even though it is a 4 and a half hour trip it still seems quicker to me than the dull, dreary drive to Dallas. Plus my mom gave me The Da Vinci Code on cd. I've never listened to a book on cd before. I became so engrossed in the story that the miles on the road flew by. When I reached home I was already on cd 4 of 5.

I returned to work today though the majority of my co workers were not there. But it still felt wonderful to be back--I missed being there. My two week absence was illustriously depicted by the amount of work left on my desk. I had about 10 tours to input in the computer and 7 messages on my phone of possible tours that I will call back on Monday. It felt good to be busy again.

On my way to work I bought a Diet Black Cherry with a Kiss of Vanilla Coke (what a name). As I drove away from the store I took a nice swig from the bottle. But something was not right with the liquid swishing in my mouth. There were chunks of something floating within the soda. My mind reeled at what it may be and, out of a normal human reflex, I spit the substance back in its container. I still have no idea what was in the coke. (I think I'm through with Diet Black Cherry with a Kiss of Vanilla Coke)

Tomorrow is my first day to teach in the 3-year-old class at my church. I'm really excited about it. I've decided I want to find a venue to volunteer my time at. I spend too much time in the evenings watching t.v. and surfing the web. I'm not sure what I will do but I am beginning my search.

At this moment I am watching Sense and Sensibility. I love this movie. If anyone enjoys Pride and Prejudice, the new or old version (although I enjoy the old), I believe they will also enjoy this Jane Austen romance.

New Beginnings

My two week Christmas vacation comes to an end. Tomorrow I leave to go back to College Station. It seems like forever since I've been there. My vacation has been nothing like I expected it to be. Of course it was filled with lots of fun with family and friends--lots of movies, girl time, and bird calls. But there has also been tears, pain, anger, and a loss of trust. That which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Quite a true statement. I'm still very angry and hurt by the event that happened this week but truthfully it's only fueled my strong ambition toward independence. This event has only pushed me more to returning to my new home. I'm so ready to get back to College Station and continue to situate my life. I love Abilene but I've never been so ready to leave a place...

About an hour to go. Thought we might get to leave early but some people decided to come see the musuem...go to a movie instead!

5:00 Countdown

It's 2:30 at the musuem. Just counting down the minutes until the work day is over. In 2 1/2 more hours I will begin my 2 week Christmas vacation and will be on the road headed to Dallas. I can't wait to see my family! It's been a month since we saw each other at Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a wonderful and very merry Christmas!

Time Is On My Side

Yesterday I had a small moment of panic after lunch. I knew my couch was going to be delivered at some point and I had been told it would be late afternoon/early evening. This made me think that it might be around the time I got off from work which would have worked with my schedule a lot better. There were only two of us working on Wednesday and I was the only staff member so I couldn't leave work at all. (That's not how the day was planned when I agreed to have the couch delivered). So I got the fateful call at a little after 1:00. The couch was coming from Houston and the sales lady said they would call when they left the city and call again when they were an hour away to give me some time. So I call back and the mover guys tell me they are 10 minutes away from my apartmen! Even if I could have left work it takes me 30 minutes to get home! Grrr! So i quickly called the apartment complex to see if they could unlock the door. The receptionist said they weren't suppose to but they could if they had something in writing. I frantically wrote out a document that gave them legal permission to open my blasted apartment and shove my couch in. Thankfully when I got home that night there was a beautiful, comfortable couch in my living room. No more sitting on the floor!

*A breaker has shut off at work today. Of course it had to be the one that provides electricity to the kitchen. So the refrigerator and microwaves are out...looks like we will have to order hamburgers for lunch!

5 more chapters done on my defensive driving (3 of which I did at work). I now have 3 more chapter and the final test. The plan is to do all of this at work tomorrow. Since I will be the only one working in the office area and I really don't have much to do this week I figure I can execute this plan successfully. We shall see...

Today I finished all of my Christmas shopping. Well, at least everything is bought (I'm waiting for 2 items to come in the mail). I'm just happy to get out of the Christmas maddness. I'm not a typical girl in the fact that I really don't like to go shopping so Christmas time is 5 times worse. But it's all worth it to see the happy faces of my family on Christmas day. This year I was way ahead of schedule. Last year I was working 20 hours a week at the Provost office and about 30-35 hours at Kirklands. So all my Christmas shopping was done the day before Christmas Eve!

I started my defensive driving today. It's going to be a long journey. I'm doing it online which is nice because I can do it on my own time. I spent 2 1/2 hours on it tonight and I got through 3 chapters out of 12. This is a real life lesson for me...always go the speed limit!

Special Present

Today I got a special surprise at work. I showed up at 9:00 as usual for my Saturday work day. It was going to be just me and Ketra today. I got all the lights turned on and just as I was going to open the safe the phone rang. It was Houston (the director of the museum) calling to tell me that Ketra went to the emergency room yesterday and he couldn't get anyone else on the phone to take her place. He told me it was unsafe to have just one person working the museum so he told me to put up a closed sign and go back home. So now I have a 3-day weekend!

I ate so much food this week. We had two Christmas parties: one with our staff and one at Blinn College. Our staff party consisted of breakfast burritos, cream cheese rolls, and christmas cookies. We had a gift exchange and at the end of it I got a wonderful Christmas cd (which I had wanted) and 4 lottery tickets! These were my first lottery tickets--and I won dittley squat. At lunch we had lasagna, salad, bread, and cheese cake. I was so stuffed.

On Friday we went to the Blinn Christmas Party. Our museum is affiliated through Blinn--the way we explain it is we are the stepchild of Blinn. Blinn is located in Brenham which is about 30 minutes away. So we all loaded up in the van and headed out on our field trip. There was so much food there! Tons of cocktail shrimp, roast beef sandwhiches, a chocolate fondue fountain, and lots of desserts. It was another day of fullness!

I Got a Couch!

Well, my days of sitting on the floor are coming to an end. Today I found my very own couch! It is a cream color and the fabric is like suede. It comes with pillows but I'm going to change them--not my cup of tea. The best part is it folds out into a bed. That was my major stipulation. I had seen the couch in the store but it didn't have an "i'm also a bed" tag. Luckily the lady helping me checked and low and behold it was a bed! This way I will be able to have people over and they can comfortably sleep. The sofa is out of stock right now but it will be delivered once I get back from Christmas holidays. I'm so excited!

"Here Let Me Give You My Card"

Right before leaving work on Friday, the director of the museum, Houston, returned from Blinn College with a present for me...my business cards!!! I was so excited I wanted to give one to everyone I met that night at the mall.

Today we had a special reception at the museum for a group from China. Houston and I were the only staff people there to get ready for the event. The day before, Anne, the curator of education and Houston's wife, asked me to help him. She said he really didn't know how to set up for a reception. So I helped arrange the cookies and petit fours neatly on the plates. Then I set out the glasses for spice cider and the wine (that was quite different from any ACU receptions). When the group from China came it was fun to hear the interpreter speak chinese.

I'm still not use to having an upper level/salary job. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to go into the reception with everyone. I'm use to being the student worker or the sales associate--aka the bottom rung. But this time I was suppose to be there--it was a nice feeling.

It's very interesting to see what goes on at the museum. Each day is new and there are interesting surprises sometimes. I think that's why I like it so much!

Ice and TV Stars

Last night it was very very cold and rainy. I realized that there would probably be some ice on my car in the morning. So I left the apartment 10 minutes early in order to scrape it off. Well, the ice was on there a little bit thicker than I thought. At first I couldn't even get my key into the keyhole. Then, once i got the door unlocked I couldn't get the door open! I had to make countless trips in and out of the apartment with cup-fulls of warm water to dump on the door. (Also I couldn't find my gloves so I had a pair of warm socks on my hands). Finally, after about 20 minutes I got my door open. Then I couldn't find my scrapper. So I had to sit in the car and just wait for the defrost to thaw my car out. By the time I got to work I was an hour and 15 minutes late--Sheesh!

Effie, our secretary, found out from her husband that a man just down the road from the museum won the Home Edition of Extreme Makeover! So there are workers and camera crews just down the road. Starting this Saturday the public can park at the musuem and take a shuttle down to watch the construction. So if any of you watch this show keep a lookout for the episode located in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas!

Today I got a music downloading system! It's been quite awhile since I've had this. So a majority of my day off was spent downloading music. I've found my new time waster...second only to facebook :)

A few of my favorite downloads so far:
* "Hallelujah" song from the finale of season 1 of the O.C. (I tear up everytime I hear this song)
* "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" from Mask of Zorro
* "Mack the Knife" sung by Michael Buble
* "One Song Glory" from Rent

Marshmellow Cream Dilema

Saturday I spent about 20 minutes searching for marshmellow cream. Sheesh! I needed to make a batch of fudge for my Small Group meeting Sunday night so I ventured to HEB for the ingredents. During my first 5 minutes of the search I ran into Andrei--a guy I met at church who actually worked with my dad a few years back. After a discussion about organic cereal I began my search again. I walked up and down every aisle and finally had to ask for help. The girl I asked had to go call the grocery department then came back to tell me it was on the side of the aisle. Finally I found it--located on the top of the shelf way out of eye level. Oy vey!

I watched an amazing movie Saturday night called Awakenings. It stars Robin Williams and Robert Deniro. It's about a doctor who helped epillectic comatose patients to revive. I absolutely loved it--it is on my Christmas list. Everyone should rent this movie!

Christmas Carnival

Friday night I helped at a Christmas Carnival that A&M Church of Christ puts on every year for children from low-income families. I figured this would be a good way to get involved with the church and have some time to interact with children. The night started off with me going to the wrong place (the church) and then having to call a lady I have befriended to receive directions to the carnival. Once I got there I had to figure out where I was suppose to be stationed--I signed up to help with the arts and crafts table. So the first lady I found I asked if she could direct me. She was so sweet and made sure I found my table. The craft of the night was Christmas cards involving construction paper, stickers, Christmas foam pieces, glue, markers, and pom pom balls. We were a very popular table during the night.

The lady who helped me find my station stayed with me and learned about why I was here in College Station and about my activities in Abilene. Through our talk I found out she is the Children's Coordinator at church and was interested in my work with the youth at Highland. Because of this contact I think I may have a position helping out in the 3 year old class starting in January! I'm so excited--I've really missed teaching at church. Just another step to getting more involved with my new church family.

*Interesting note: Last Monday while shopping in Target I realized one of the workers looked familiar. He did a double take of me as he walked by. On his way back he asked if I was from Abilene. I said yes and then asked him if he went to Abilene High...another yes. Brandon Corey (who I went to middle and high school with) is just recently out of the Marines and going to school out here---what a small world!

A Little Light Fun

So it's Saturday afternoon...I'm at work...(just gave a program designed for small kids to 9 adults)...it's been pretty slow...time to jazz up the day! Enjoy! (I borrowed this from my ex-partner in the Highland Middle School class--thanks Kat!)

FIRSTS :
First best friend: Kristen Kliever (haven't seen her since 5th grade!)
First car: '84 Honda Accord--pretty janky
First date: Freshman year of college with Layne Dussechleger (first and only date)
First kiss: Well, according to my mom it was in kindergarten--note sent home "Erin needs to control herself. She kissed a boy today"
First crush: Brandon Green in first grade
First self-purchased CD: umm...not sure--my very first cd was The Monkees Greatest Hits--yeah

LASTS :
Last car ride: to work
Last library book: The Warren Report--it was for a history paper
Last movie seen: in theaters--Walk the Line; on t.v.--Finding Nemo
Last beverage: Coke (drinking it as we speak)
Last food consumed: Fun Size Fast Break candy bar
Last phone call: last night with matt
Last shoes worn: my black work shoes (the comfortable ones)
Last cd played: Jekyll and Hyde
Last item bought: diet pepsi with lime and a twix
Last annoyance: aunt flo--enough said
Last disappointment: Abilene High--0 South Lake Carroll--52 (yikes!)
Last frustration: car ride to Waco (i'll explain later)
Last reason to smile: when the highway patrolmen searched my car at 12:30am
Last reason to laugh: retelling the story of the patrolmen on the phone
Last shirt worn: light blue button-up shirt
Last website visited: xanga
Last words you said: one more hour (to Ketra about leaving work)
Last thought: I really need some chocolate
Last song you sang: In His Eyes (jekyll and hyde) I tend to sing all the time in the car--keeps me awake :)

Thanksgiving Schedule

I start my wonderful Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow at noon. I go to work at 8:30, give two tours to school kids (cutting it a little close there, kiddos) and then I'm on my way to Abilene! Here's what my schedule looks like for the next few days:

Tuesday
- Arrive in Abilene around 5:00ish
- See if any of the SPP gang is still in town
- Movie at 8:00ish with Christy and special guests (so far on the list are Haley Savage, Tyler Lawerence, and Steven Moore!)
- After the movie hang out with my boys

Wednesday
- possibly lunch with Matt and Bryson
- go check out the crew at Kirkland's
- leave sometime with the family to Dallas

Thursday
- watch Thanksgiving Day Parade
- help with lunch
- laze around

Friday
- not sure what I'll do during the day
- 7:00 go to the Abilene High playoff game in Waco!
- After the game head back to CS for work on the next day

$=real food

Well, I survived 5 weeks waiting to receive my first pay check from the museum. This past week I start to get a little low on the creative food venue: mainly I was living on cereal and pb&j. But Friday was a blessed day when the direct deposit fell through! Tonight I spent a leisurly trip in H.E.B. My kitchen is now filled to the brim with wonderful food! Some of my favorite items:

* Chocolate Peanut Butter Soy Ice Cream
* White Chedder Cheetos (whoa)
* Popcorn Shrimp
* Kashi Crunch Cereal

I hate Mondays!

With my current work schedule I have my day off on Mondays which should make the day a joyous time of relaxation, right? Well, the past few Mondays have been hectic, stressful, and sometimes have ended in tears. I'm still trying to get settled into my new city which means I have a lot of things to change and setup and Mondays have become the designated day for all that crap. I should have known it was not going to be an enjoyable day when at 8:30 in the morning a jackhammer type instrument went off right behind my apartment. Apparently they decided to fix the sidewalk early in the morning on my one day to sleep in! Somehow I managed to drown out the sound and sleep a little longer. During the morning time I researched different insurance places for my car insurance. Then I made a list of everywhere I had to go--I had to get a notary to sign my request for defensive driving (yes I got not one but 2 tickets on my way to and from Abilene a few weeks ago) and I need to get a few groceries from super walmart. I got in the car and started to backup when I noticed the car was really sluggish. I got out and saw the the problem--a very flat tire. Grrrrr! At first I wasn't sure what to do. I followed my first instinct and called my parents but neither one of them answered. Then I remembered that in my trunk I had a travel size air pump that plugs in the car. So after airing the tire I rushed to the little Walmart across the street. I assumed it would take an hour to an hour and a half to fix. Well, I was there from 2:15-5:00! They had to change both of my front tires and for some reason it takes 3 hours to do that. So I missed my chance to go to the notary and it was after 6:30 when I returned home from grocery shopping...sheesh.

Maybe next Monday will be a little better!

Not a Dull Day

So my day at work started out like a pretty typical Saturday. Yes I work on Saturdays. It's not as bad as it sounds--I'm the only one back in the office so I can do whatever I want. Today I was doing research for some upcoming bulletin boards I will be putting up. This whole past week the temperature in the office has been very cooperative--a nice liveable setting. Today it literally is the ice box. At around 11:45 Ketra, one of the weekend front desk workers, came by my desk and asked if I would like the space heater. I thought it might be nice to feel my fingers again. So I brought it in, pluged in in and turned it on. As soon as I turned it on my computer shut off and this horrible, continuous beeping commensed. I ran out to Bill and Ketra and asked for their help. We figured out it was the backup system that was beeping--not really a good thing. So we called Effie and followed her suggestion on flipping all the breakers. This did not erradicate the problem but made it worse as the lights in the outer office turned off! Finally, under Effie's suggestion, we just unplugged the backup system. What's scarey is it kept beeping even though it wasn't plugged in! Ketra and I slowly backed away from it. We got the lights turned back on--thank goodness! So at least the day wasn't completely boring!

*Highlight of the day: I had a Pizza Lunchable for lunch today! I haven't had one of those in years. I felt I need to revert back to my childhood.

Kids Say...

Finally after almost a month I have internet capabilities in my apartment. The guy who fixed it was only on my computer for 10 minutes. He clicked one little thing and everything worked--sheesh! All that waiting for one little click.

I love working with little kids. Each day is different and you never know what they will say. Today on one of my tours I had an answer to a question that I had to keep from laughing at. On the second floor tour of the museum I set the kids on the floor while I talk a bit about the people who came to Texas. I begin by saying "many people came to Texas because there was something they could get that was really cheap and sometimes free". I ask the students what it was. The correct answer is land. Some of the common answers I get are food and wood but today I had a little boy say doors. It was such a random answer that I wasn't expecting. I had to hold in the laughter.

One more day of work until my blessed weekend. But this evening I have some special visitors coming that will make the weekend a whole lot better!

Getting Paid to Play!

Today I had such a wonderful time at work! Anne took Judy and I (the newbies) to see the rest of the park. I have been here almost a month now and I haven't met the other people who work at the park--I've talked to them on the phone. We started at the visitor's center which has a wonderful gift shop full of texas items. I already know where most of my Christmas presents are coming from. Next we walked the trail behind the center all the way to the Brazos River. It's so beautiful down there--everything is green and there are trees, real trees...not the bushes we have in Abilene. Next we went down to the farm. Since we are VIP we got to ride around on the golf cart. We toured the slave cabins and the pen with the baby oxen named Sam, Slim and Shorty. Next we visited the house of Anson Jones (it really is the actual house). FYI: Anson Jones was the last president of the Texas Republic. In the yard of the house were chickens and ducks freely roaming around. Janice, one of the ladies who runs the tours of the farm, showed us her gardens in the back full of carrots, cabbage, onions, etc. She actually uses the food grown to cook meals down there. I can't wait to go there while a school group is down there! After lunch I went to the back where Maria and Shawn work on all of the artifacts. They showed some of the stuff they have and explained how to handle them and the type of controlled climate that has to be kept. And now it's about time for me to leave--I'm leaving early to meet the internet guy so I can finally get internet in my apartment! All in all it has been an absolutely wonderful day--I love my job!!!

Sheesh...It's About Time!

Well, I know I told everyone that I would start up my blog again since I wouldn't be in the same city. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to get started. The main problem is I don't have my wireless internet setup yet. It's going on the 4th week without it. I now personally know 3 of the guys at the computer company and talk with them as if I have known them for years. Hopefully sometime this week I can get it figured out. (If anyone out there knows anything about getting wireless on a laptop I would appreciate any advice).

The job is going great! I love it alot! So far I have scheduled many tours--I think I have most of that down. Last week was my first time to give tours. I gave 7 tours in 3 days! My first day, Wednsday, I gave three separate tours so by the time the day was over I was an expert. Each tour is different depending on the kids and mostly on the teacher and how she manages the class. I've had some interesting groups who have been hard to handle mainly because their teacher pretty much gave them to me and went to look at items in the museum--grrrr! But I have had some other wonderful groups. Last Thursday I had the "heavenly group" as I call them. They were absolutely perfect and so far no other group has matched them. At the end of giving the tour to one of the groups, two third grade girls were upset that I wasn't going with them to the next site--it was so cute!

Apartment living is going well. I'm still lacking a few pieces of furniture but I have the major essentials...the t.v.! I'm still unpacking--it's hard to figure out were to put all my stuff. Last night I went to the exercise room for the first time. It's pretty nice. I used the treadmill (which I found out this morning I should have stretched first--a little sore). I'm slowly getting involved with A&M Church of Christ. Already I have found people I have connections with. I met the parents of a girl I knew from ACU and last Sunday I sat next to a guy who did an internship in my dad's office--how weird!

Anyway, that's about all that's been going on in my life so far. I promise to keep ya'll posted!

EC

It's Been Awhile

Wow. It really has been a long time since I wrote on this thing. What with student teaching and work spring semester I hardly had time to get on the computer. But here it is September and I'm ready to write...

The most exciting news right now is I have a job interview this Friday. After 3 months of sending out resumes I finally have received some contact. The job is in Washington, TX (20 minutes from College Station). It is at the Star of the Republic Museum, a state accreditated museum through Blinn College. The job title is Public Programs Coordinator and includes the tasks of giving information about the museum, scheduling tours and conducting tours.

I'm so excited and a little nervous. I would really, really love to have this job.

Top of the Morning to Ya

Last night at Kirklands was very, very slow and boring. The one event that perked things up was that three women visiting from Ireland came and bought quite a few items. It was so much fun to hear them talk. I love to listen to different accents. It was also fun to watch them count out their American money, wondering which coin was a penny or a dime. Once they had finished paying for something they would walk away and in a few minutes return with something else they wanted. They were so adorable!

I think Robin comes home either today or tomorrow. I'm really excited--I miss my roommates alot. I've had fun living in the house by myself, but after a week and half of that I'm really longing for someone to talk with. So maybe when I get off from work tonight there will be a special Robin surprise waiting for me!

Where'd Ya Get that Shiner?

I found out that on Sunday night around 10:00 totally chaos struck my family's house. At this time the lights in the house flickered on and off until finally the whole house went dark. Then there were sparks in the backyard right next to the windows. Apparently one of the electrical lines ran through a tree and over time, the wire had rubbed against the bark until it severed. Needless to say my sisters were going frantic in the dark.

Along with the darkness my mom managed to injure herself. She was back in my old room, which she is converting into an office (shot through the heart). When the lights went out, she saw the sparks from the window and thought it was a fire. In her moment of fright she forgot that she had placed some large pieces of furniture in the hall. As she ran out of the room she tripped on my bench, causing her to hit her eye right on the corner of the wooden beast.

I went to my parent's house yesterday to check out the damage to my mom. She entered the house wearing her sunglasses. When she removed the glasses there it was...quite a nice shiner. Not only was it black all around, but there was also a small gash near the corner of her eye. I felt so sorry for her.

On another note, I saw an opossum in the road (alive) while I was driving last night. I get cheap thrills out of the most insignificant things.

The Aftermath of Christmas

Now that Christmas is over, life has slowed down quite a bit. This Christmas was more frantic than others. With two jobs I didn't have much time for shopping--I actually got it all done in about a day (two days before Christmas). I did pretty well...there are only two items I got that were completely off the mark.

Since the busy Christmas time has passed I am being scheduled for less hours at Kirkland's which is kind of nice. The past two weeks I was working close to 40 hours per week not to mention the time at my job at ACU. The past few nights have been really slow. Last night it was just me and Tim, one of the assistant managers, working from 7-9:30. To pass the time we played speed, performed a few magic tricks, and had quite a few rubber band fights. It was really fun not doing work stuff.

I was off on Tuesday so, after a small nap, I attacked the Relm. I put on my Evita soundtrack loud enough so I could hear it in every room of the house and I cleaned that sucker from top to bottom. After 2 1/2 hours of cleaning the house looked great! And as a reward for my efforts I plopped on the couch and watched about an hour of the appendixes from Return of the King and then an episode of X Files. It was a good night.

I am off on Friday and Saturday so I've already made plans to hang out with the Abilene girls on New Year's Eve. We sort of made a pact in high school to always hang out on New Year's Eve no matter what. So the two girls who are married are leaving the husbands for the night and enjoying a wonderful girls' night. The plan is to dress stylishly and eat at Cypress Street and then return to Trish's house for one of our famous slumber parties--I can't wait.

Snow

I woke up today to a beautiful blanket of white snow on the ground. I was so excited! I love snow. What I didn't realize was that it was still coming down rather aggressively--even better. It was interesting uncovering my car this morning to go to work. I still haven't bought an ice scrapper so I was using my glove. And as I opened the front door the piled up snow filtered its way right on to my seat--lovely. So I entered work with a slightly wet bum. I wish all of the gang was here so we could go play in the snow like we did freshman year--man, that was a good time. Instead I'm stuck in the office and then have to jet to the mall for the rest of the day--oh, well. For those of you in Abilene or anywhere else it is snowing...happy snow day!

The Wedding

Sheesh! It's been quite awhile since I've written on my blog. I sort of slacked off there. Well, the group of us got back last night around 9:30 from Mark and Katrina's wedding. It was a really great trip. Only a few small incidents occurred along the way. Some highlights from the trip:

*meeting at Tortuga at 5:45 in the morning--whew!
*Phil unable to take the right turn in Wichita Falls to reach the McDonalds
*Playing chicken with the on coming van as we tried to pass another car
*20 questions--which created a lot of tension between the two cars
*not finding out the answers to 20 questions until the wedding breakfast
*Atomic Burrito in Tulsa--The "atomic" smell in the building
*Lauren losing her purse at Atomic Burrito but remaining calm
*Driving straight through the toll booth and not getting caught
*Bachlorette party + Philter
*Amazing Chinese Restaurant--the building was like this Chinese palace
*Seeing horse drawn carriages in downtown Springfield
*Special bachlorette gifts for Katrina from Melody, Adriane, and Kristen (girls ask me in person and I will tell you what they were)
*Getting lost on the way to the cabins and driving through "the lights" of Branson (I felt like we were in Vegas)
*Waking up at 6:00 for the rehearsal in the freezing weather
*Worrying and calling Bret countless times, unsure of where he and Julie were
*Helping delagate the rehearsal
*Wedding Breakfast--good stuff
*Devotional lead by Phil with Atomic Burrito references
*Mark's cousin, Matthew jumping in the girl van to ride to Branson
*Getting a call from Mark asking about the flowers, which were in the van in Branson, needed for pictures
*DanX, Marcus, and Phil doing an amazing job playing/singing "May the Few"
*The weird bathroom in the reception hall--it had two toilets without barriers
*Chocolate Soy Milk at the reception--YES!!!
*Absolutely great music played at the reception
*Catching the bouquet
*Andrew's crazy car decorations
*Spending the night at Katrina's Grandmother's house
*Marcus getting a speeding ticket
*Arriving home safe and sound
*Catching up on all the sleep I lost

It was such a fun weekend and such a beautiful wedding. Congrats to Mark and Katrina Willis--I love you guys!

Commence Relaxation

Well, this morning at 8:00 I finished my very last final of my college career (no finals in student teaching). I feel burden free right now. I'm at work and don't know what to do with myself--I usually study or read for class. Ahhh...

Today after my final I went to Kirkland's to fill out all my paper work. I am offically an employee. I received my code to clock in and out which is really cool--I've never worked at a job with computer registers before. I go in tomorrow morning for 2 hours just to learn the ropes and get acquianted with what the job entails. So far I am scheduled for around 32 hours next week. I'm really excited!

Friday night I will be marshalling at graduation. Then afterwards I'm sure I will venture over to Tortuga to join in on the crazy 24 hour Smat Tourney/Vigil. Oy! I'm signed up to play at 11:00 Saturday morning with Robin, Lauren, and Rachael--I just hope we can last for a whole hour. What a waste of time.

One Down...Two To Go

I just finished my hardest final of the week. It was an all essay test in Renaissance and Reformation--bleck! I really have no idea how well I did--as soon as the test was over I blocked it all from my mind.

At 4:30 today I have an interview at Kirkland's in the mall. I am in need of a second job over Christmas break and possibly during the spring semester. Hannah just recently got a job at Kirkland's and informed me that they are still hiring. So I turned in a resume yesterday and the manager asked me to come back today--a very good sign. So we will see what happens.

Chritmat Time

Monday I got the urge to decorate the house with our few but special Christmas regalia. So Robin, Brooke, and I spent the time going through and "Christmasifying" the Relm. Some of the stuff in the boxes I've never seen before and have no idea where it came from...but we still used it. Some of my favorite decorations include:

* The beautiful 3-foot Christmas tree (good job, Brooke)
* The 12-inch Christmas tree on the table with the single 5-inch (in diameter) Christmas ball hanging from its branches
* The "Ghetto B" stocking (you'll have to see it to understand)
* The stockings hung on the mantle with duct tape
* Lauren's stocking hung on the flip flop on the wall...until she comes to claim it
* The piece of cardboard that we wrote "Merry Christmas Ya'll" on and hung on the empty nail in the kitchen
*The random "Bah Humbug" stuffed animal (a ladybug I think) tapped upside down on the front door with duct tape

(To the tune of New Kids on the Block's "The Right Stuff")

O-Or-e-o
O-Or-e-o
What's in the middle...
The White Stuff!

The Gobbles Have Ceased

The Holiday Season...It's this time of year when you realize how truly thankful you are that you don't live at home anymore!

Thanksgiving was good. It was a time of rest and relaxation. I had made these goals before I left based on all the homework I was going to complete during the break. I had envisioned myself locked in the guest room of my grandmother's house with my mom's laptop, typing my fingers to the bone. Well, needless to say that never happened. I stocked up on turkey, cookies, ice cream and tons of other food I should not have eaten.

The majority of the time was spent with the family watching movies (I rented the Terminal so my family could enjoy the sheer wonder of this delightful movie). On Friday my mom, sisters and I ventured to the Parks Mall in Arlington. Let me put out this disclaimer: I hate shopping. I'm not the typical girl who's favorite pasttime is to shop til I drop. I usually only go to the mall when I have a dire necessity for something. So going to the mall on the busiest shopping day of the year was not the best idea. But it was good to get out of the house and spend some time with the females of the family.

On Saturday my dad, sister (Jennifer), and I went to the Abilene High vs. South Lake Carrol game at Texas Stadium. Wow--it was such an amazing game! There were 34,000 people at this high school football game--talk about dedication. AHigh put up a great fight and came very close to winning but the final score was 35-30 South Lake. Those South Lake boys were huge...they sure eat their wheaties *cough* steroids.

So the majority of the holiday was great but I'd have to say that by Sunday everyone in the family was about ready to get back and get away from each other. There's just something about being in that close of a space for so many days that just makes everyone irritated.

Now it's time to crank into action and finish all the homework I put off this weekend. Oy!

New Love

I have a new love in my life...The Bagel Wagon in the Ad building. (I think it has a new name now but forever it will be known to me as TBW). Over the past four years I have know this place and received my lunch from there. I received it's gifts of nurishment with tolerance and kindness. But everything changed on Friday...

Friday I had to go to work right after chapel so I ran to grab something to eat. I was going to get my normal cold turkey sandwhich until my eyes rested on the large crockpot in the corner. I opended the warm pot to find chicken and rice simmering and steaming away. My heart started to beat out the rhythm of the song "Heaven, I'm in Heaven". It was such an amazing, warm, fulfilling meal!

Then today I went to get some lunch and when I checked the magic pot of goodness I found potatoe soup! Again my heart raced. I used the LADLE to dish out the yummy broth. I have been blind these past four years to this wonderful, precious gift. From now on I check the pot before any other food item pops into my mind.

Wake up with "Down"

This morning as I was leaving for my 8:00 class I got quite a surprise. As I walked out to my car I noticed a foreign object on the windshield. As I got closer I realized what it was--A DEAD DUCK! The neck of duck was held under the windsheild whipper of my car. I ran back into the house to tell Brooke and Ross's mom (who stayed with us last night). Brooke grabbed a trash bag and scooped up the animal.

When I got to chapel Ross asked me if my day had gotten off to a good "flight". I know that Mark, Phil, and Bret were apart of it--I'm not sure if there were any others. I took a picture of it with my camera phone to document the momentous occassion.

What's This...A Boy?!?!

I would call today a good day...

Background: At the beginning of the semester I was introduced to this guy named Jonathan who loves Disney and challenged me to play a tournament of Disney Trivia. I slaughtered him, winning 2 out of 3 games. I thought he was rather good-looking and he loved Disney--what more could you want! Over the semester we have seen each other and said a casual "hi".

So today we were on break in my Education Block class (the stinkin 3 hour class). Our class is in the Science building on the 4th floor. I came back into the room after a quick restroom break. I was throwing away my empty cup when Jonathan called my name from outside the door. I was really suprised to see him. He must have seen me enter the classroom because you couldn't see me from the angle I was standing at the trash can. He invited me to play disney trivia again with him sometime this weekend. I told him I couldn't Friday (FilmFest) but I was free Saturday. So he got my cell phone number and told me he would call.

I really didn't listen to the rest of the lecture in my class. So here you have it the gushy, girly side of EC. I know it's not a date but it still hit me as exciting. Sheesh, I'm such a girl! (Not that that's a bad thing) ;)

Strike of the Ninjets

I love my roommates. We have so many nights of random fun that begins with a simple idea or suggestion and automatically is put into play.

Before I describe what occured on Sunday night I must set it up with what happened Friday afternoon. Friday we had Relm lunch, a typical, normal event. Another typical, normal event is the boys stealing something from our house during this meal. Unfortunately we had no idea what they stole but we chased after their car any way to give them the facade that we knew what they had done. So we continued the weekend unsure of what they took.

It wasn't till the Sep-Tep date that Brooke realized what was stolen. Duct taped to the wall of Tortuga were forks and spoons--the precious silverware of the Relm. Oy, what those boys will think of.

So Sunday night we were sitting around and one of us casually mentioned that we should raid the house and steal the silverware back. The difference between us and other people is that other people would just suggested this as a fun discussion topic...we actually make it happen.

So we began the rapid transformation into...The Ninjets! We ran around find all the black items of clothing that we had. Granted we aren't use to dressing as ninjas so we had to scrounge around to find our headware. Robin ended up tying a long sleeved shirt around her face (I was amazed at how she got that to work). I had a black strapless sports bra that I placed around my nose and mouth and a pair of workout shorts that I placed on my head. Brooke used her sports bra and a pair of pants. Then came the final touch that distinguished us from the Ninjas and proved our awesome power as Ninjets...

The Black Eyeliner. We had some scary, thick black eyeliner going on. In the middle of our foreheads we drew on a symbol that was our trademark. Robin had a black circle, I had a long black line, and Brooke had a black star.

We were ready for battle. (First of all we were scared to death driving to the house--we thought someone would see us in the car and think we were going to rob a bank). We did a drive by of the house to "case the joint" as we were driving down the street Phil drove past to take Jenna to her dorm. We knew we had precious little time.

The plan was that I would go in the front with my water gun (actually the boys water gun that we stole earlier in the month) , steal something to get the boys to chase me out of the house while the other two Ninjets snuck in the back of the house to get the silverware. When I knocked on the door and came in the house no one was there. So I went to the back of the house to inform the other two. Unfortunately they didn't expect to see me and they screamed in terror. We began to rescue the precious silverware. In the midst of the rescue a door began to open and from the shadows of the room stepped the sleepy but sly enemy, Stev9. I shot him with all my power as I screamed for the others to run. Without the cover of his black garb Stev9's ninja reflexes and strength ensued and he soon overpowered my feeble ninjet strategies. He leaped out of the house toward my commrades. I gathered my strenght and set out after the screams that I heard in the billowing nightfall. I clasped on to his leg and pajama pant leg in an attempt to give the girls a chance to run. Out of the night air another form emerged--the dreaded Rot9. He was a foe that was not easily defeated. Stev9 retreated from my grasp and begain his persuit along the cement drive way in bare feet. I soon witnessed the stumble of the brave ninja as he sliced a chunck of skin from his big toe--yet he pressed on in red hot persuit.

Luckily the Ninjets made it to their mode of transportation and left the two defeat yet angry boys/ninjas to wallow in their misery.

The victory of the first Ninjet raid has kept us on our guard. We await the retaliation of the Tortuga Sect of the Ninja Faction with great confidence and fury. All Your Base Are Belong To US.

Adkins Exploding in the Freezer

What did you do this afternoon?

Well, my roommates and I bought $50 worth of meat.
Giga-what?!?!?

So I left observing early today to relax at home before I had to go to work. While at work an innocent, unbeknownst knock rapped at our door. It was this rather loud, but funny hispanic man. We figured he wanted to mow our yard--we get those a lot since we tend to have the jungle growing in the front. He actually was from "Gourmet Foods" and he was selling meat--how random.

Since I answered the door I of course said "Sure I'd like to look at it" (I just can't say no). So he ran to his truck and brought in a huge box and began pulling out the meat and describing it with such tenderness. The meat actually looked very good and it was vacuum sealed. So we ended up buying 24 steak hamburger patties and 10 medallions. So they are sitting in the freezer awaiting consumption.

Wow what a random day.

*By the way...if anyone is interested we have the card and phone number of the meat man.

Abnormal Sleeping Patterns

I experienced the CONSEQUENCES of my wonderful, relaxing trip to Corpus on Monday night. On Tuesday I had a power point project, a huge lesson plan project, and a group project all due in the same class--what the huey?!?! So Monday night I doped myself up on chocolate and coke (a-cola). I began working on it at 6:00 and ended at 4:45 in the morning. The hardest time slot was from 12-1--I wanted to go to bed so bad. But man, you should have seen me at about 3:00. I was wired and singing with much enthusiasm to Les Miserables--I really hope I didn't wake up my roommates.

So Tuesday I was running on 2 hours of sleep. Whew. I did pretty well because I knew I had to do my presentation to the class which was at 1:00. Unfortunatly I had class and work from 8-5 so there was no chance of getting a nap. It wasn't until I got to work that the lack of sleep hit me like a sumo wrestler. I was dying. After work I had to rush across town to vote. I really hope none of you were on the road at about 5:00 yesterday because it was a very scary ride for me. 2 hours of sleep+driving=roads moving around and fading in and out of conciousness. I was very glad when I got home safe and sound.

I got home a little before 6:00 and told Robin and Brooke I was going to take a nap. I set my alarm for 8:00. When it went off I decided to sleep 40 more minutes. The next time I woke up I thought it looked a little darker in my room. I looked at my clock and realized it was 3:00 in the morning--whoa baby! I got up, took out my contacts, took a quick restroom break, thought about what I should do, and then jumped right back into bed until 7:00. I got 13 hours of sleep last night!!!

Man, when you are sleep deprived you have some majorly wacked out dreams!

Hopefully I am back on my regularly scheduled sleep pattern.

We Survived Corpus '04

Well, all 30-something of us arrived back to Abilene safe and sound from a great weekend in Corpus Christi. I had a really great time. It was a great lat Fall Break. I won't be able to describe everything that happened on the trip (that would make this blog way too long), but here are a few highlights:

*Driving the soccer mom fan w/ Luke, Kendra, Alex, Tracy, and Lisa (you guys are awesome--I had so much fun with ya'll)

*Before the trip even started, running the van over one of those diamond shaped curb things in the campus center parking lot

*Finally getting on the road at 6:15 after the fear of a punctured fuel tank was over

*Pulling out in front of a semi

* Luke: "Don't hit that exit sign"
Me: "I'm not going to hit anything"
Everyone in the car: "AHHHHHHH!" (as we almost hit Phyllis's car)

* 20 questions with Phyllis's car to Corpus and Brooke and Ross on the way to Abilene

* Veto--enough said

* The attack and burial of EC in the sand

* Volleyball in the Ocean

* 10 girls showering in 30 minutes or less

* Major good eatin' at Tim and Venie Fulbright's house

* Alex's inability to paint the moon (K THANKS)

* Murder in the dark--turning on the lights to find Keith climbing the basketball hoop and Curtis climbing the wall

*The ha-ha game with frisbees flying near our heads (brooke getting hit twice) and Keith diving over us

* 3rd flooring it

* Brooke and I pretending to drown and Roommate deciding which one to save

* Bret getting stung by a jellyfish and Ross peeing on his hand to help the stinging (video coverage taken)

* Kingsville Pizza Parlor--sharing a pepperoni and black olive pizza with Alex

* Lots of volleyball!

* Indiana vs. The World ultimate frisbee tournament (the world won)

* Throwing the frisbee right into Keith's face

*Keith going to the hospital for a broken jaw

*finding out Keith's broken jaw was a complete joke (jerks)

* 30 something people dressing crazy and going to Whataburger

*Rachael and I getting a picture with the cop at Whatatburger

* Grumpy boys on Sunday morning--turning on the lights and running for dear life

* Small time church--note to self no clapping on "I will call upon the lord"

* Pot luck--huge table of desserts--Woah

*Someone egging the van and Rot's truck--grrr!

* Lots of cold showers

* Scary driving in the rain storm--sort of hit the loose gravel

It was a great trip. Thanks to Hannah and Robin for all their time and effort in planning this. Hallellujah that no one died.

Not So Good

All of a sudden this day got incedibly stressfull. I already knew that I have quit a bit of class work to get done the next few weeks but it overflowed today.

In my block class we were told that we had to have our instructional units, which consists of 5 lesson plans (which take forever to make), turned in along with a powerpoint presentation on one of the lesson plans on November 2. Along with that we have a group project due the same day in which we teach the class. And of course this is all due the Tuesday after fall break--what absolute idiot thought that up?!?!?

Then I went to turn in my applications for student teaching and there was a line to talk to Mrs. Vessel. I had to be at work in 15 minutes but the applications are due by tomorrow so I waited. When I finally got in I found out I didn't have all of the applications--so I have to fill out another one and then turn them in tomorrow. AUGH!

Then I got to work and there was lots of stuff for me to do! ARGH!

From now until Fall Break I have to dedicate myself to writting lesson plans so I can enjoy my time in Corpus.

*I'm a little put out right now*

It is Finished

My first official lesson is behind me...and there was much rejoicing. I would have to say that it went really well.

Last night I got a little frustrated at times at computers not working and the library not being open during church time (stupid Christian college--just kidding). I ended up working up at my mom's work most of the night. When I returned home at around 12:30, little did I know that a suprise was waiting for me...

I walked into the house and it was pitch dark. I assumed that Brooke and Robin had gone to bed--not that unusual. But then I stayed there in front of the door because I could see a strange red, blinking light coming from my room. As I stood there trying to decide what it was, a form came running and screaming at me from the living room and another from the hallway. Apparently Brooke and Robin had been really bored at home so they set up Robin's videocamera in my room and waited for me to return home. The video is hilarious--especially the part with Brooke and Robin waiting in the dark for me to come home.

I stayed up till 2:00 last night, having fun with the roommates and finishing my lesson plan. Needless to say I decided to skip my 8:00. At 9:30 I made my way to Grandy's were I got a lovely breakfast of pancakes and sausage and began to review my lesson. As I left Grandy's the rain began to pour. And of course the street I had to cross to get to AHS was flooded, and of course I was lugging around a video camera bag and a huge tripod, and of course I was in huge high-heels--sheesh.

I had an hour before my lesson (Mrs. Hamaty taught for 30 minutes, then the kids had lunch). I wasn't nervous at all--I was so thankful. All this week I had been praying for God to get me through this and he empowered me with strength and confidence. My lesson went very well--it went a little faster than I planned. I had overheads made and wrote information down so the students knew exactly what to use in their notes. I had a great mneumonic device to help them remember the 5 Pillars of Faith: Frosted Poptarts Are Fabulous Pastries
Frosted=Faith
Poptarts=Prayer
Are=Alms
Fabulous=Fasting
Pastries=Pilgrimage
I was very proud of this invention--I even drew a poptart on the overhead ; ).

At the end of the lesson I had a worksheet for the students to fill out. So the rest of the time was spent on that. I really enjoyed teaching. It was a little scary at first but once I knew what I was doing I dove straight into it.

Those Who Can't, Teach!

Tuesday after my 8:00 class I ventured up to AHS to speak with my teacher about the lesson I would be teaching on Thursday. When she saw me she asked how long I could stay and I told her till about 10:40 (can't have anything stand in the way of chapel--sheesh). So she lead me in to the holy of holies of the high school--that's right the teacher's workroom! Sitting on the table was a half-eaten cake from McKay's which Mrs. Hamaty told me I could eat (and I did!). I got suckered into grading tests while we discussed what I would teach. At first she told me they had been studying ancient African civilizations. I'm sure my eyes resembled a deer in the headlights of a large truck because I have not had much experience with this area of history. Then she said they were also studying the world religions. Much better--I could handle that. So it was decided that I would teach a 45-50 minute (not the whole hour and a half--hallelujah) lesson on Islam. Thanks to my previous world history classes and Rodney Ashlock's Christianity in Culture class I'm somewhat up to speed on this subject.

Today at work I have been diligently looking up information on the subject and checking out other teacher's suggestions on how to teach this concept to high school students. I'm already getting a bit nervous--probably because I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to teach this.

I'm looking forward to 1:30 tomorrow afternoon--that's when it will be all over!

Stay tuned for a discussion on how well (or not-so-well) the lesson goes.

To be continued...

Sleepy Monday

It's overcast, rainy, and a little on the cool side. It's my favorite type of weather. Too bad I'm stuck at school/observation/work all day...grrr! I'd much rather get in some comfy sweat pants and sweat shirt, curl up in bed with a book, and read till I fall asleep. Oh and throw a cup of hot chocolate with marshmellows in there too.

Observation at Abilene High was rather enjoyable. I went to my favorite teacher's classroom for 3rd period. Mr. Moore had plenty of stuff for me to do. I got to grade and record student's papers into his grade book. I've never looked too intently at a grade book before. It's sort of tricky--all these little boxes all over! Mr. Moore has these little puppets from Mexico that he lets students take on trips as long as they bring pictures back of themselves and the puppet. Mr. Moore introduced me to the class by pointing out the picture of me in Disneyland which he still has on his wall--that was 6 years ago.

Next I went to Mr. Galloway's (Bradley P.) economics class. He remembered that I was in his class which suprised me. He was a good teacher he just never seemed to know any one's name. His class wasn't as enthrolling as Mr. Moore's but it was still fun to see an old teacher.

As I was walking in the student parking lot to my car, I saw someone wave to me as they got out of their car. I thought it might be someone from my Block class coming to observe, but they didn't look familiar. Then I recognized the mysterious man--Tyler Lawrence, an old high school friend I haven't seen in about 2 years. He is attending Hardin-Simmons and is observing for English. I was so excited to see him!

Overall, it was a good day of observation. 22 hours down...23 to go (Oy)

Pondering Paradoxes

So I'm in this Honors Colloquim that is all about Paradoxes. Most of the time I don't listen mainly because it causes my head to hurt and because I keep thinking about all the other things I could be doing with my time, but I actually listened to some of the subjects brought up. I thought I would share one of the items we talked about last night:

If time travel was possible, then you could go back to the time - say 1925 - when your maternal grandfather was an infant and kill him. Now if Grandpa died in 1925, your mother would never have been born, and consequently you would not exist. But then, who killed Grandpa?

(It has that whole Back to the Future theme going on!)

What a "Drag"

This past Saturday I was all alone at the Relm (the roommates were both out of town). I did quite a bit of homework so as a reward I rented a movie. There was a specific movie I had been wanting to see for quite some time--only because I knew David Duchovny was in it (*soft growl in the back of throat*). The movie is called Connie and Carla (it also has the lady from My Big Fat Greek Wedding). The story line is that these two women witness a murder and in order for them to hide they pretend to be men dressed as women. That's right--this movie is all about drag queens! It is quite an entertaining movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie has singing, dancing, special appearance by Debbie Reynolds, and men who look better in a dress than I do.

P.S. In the outtakes David Duchovny takes off his pants. (purr...I mean, no that's wrong)

A Sight to Behold...or Maybe Not

Last night as Robin and I drove to Bean Sprout night we witnessed an amazing sight that made us laugh and at the same time gasp in dismay. As we passed by the United shopping center we saw a lady leaning against her car. Standing in front of her, near the curb and facing the cars that drove past was a young girl, probably about 8 years old. We assumed it was the woman's daughter. This girl was wearing a tight "clubesque" shirt, short skirt, and knee high black boots. She was dancing rather provacatively in the grassy knoll as cars zoomed pass on the busy street. In the words of Robin it looked like she was a prostitute and her mother was her pimp. I was just amazed at the spectical and the way the mother was reacting. I hate to think of the path of low self-esteem and belief solely in physical appearance that this young girl will probably follow.

Modesty...always the best policy (especially for 8 year olds...well, actually for all girls)

And the winner is...

So I'm sitting in my office reading my book while my boss, Jana, is reading the Optimist (which I already read). All of a sudden Jana says, "You won tickets to the drive-in?" I had no idea what she was talking about. I didn't win tickets...I never win any kind of contest. And besides that I didn't enter any contest. So I got up to see what she was talking about. There in the optimist, a huge ad in the middle of the page (how in the heck did I not see that) was a list of names, and *bada-bing-bada-boom* there was my name smack dab in the middle of them. Apparently I won the tickets for filling out the online survey about the best stuff in Abilene. I had no idea there was a prize involved. I was just incredibly bored at work so I figured filling that out would pass a few minutes. And to think I would have gone the entire day not knowing about this wonderful surprise.

Now the big question is who do I take with me? Who is worthy enough to accompany me to the drive-in? Maybe I should hold interviews or at least milk some well-deserved grovelling from others for a few days.

If interested in above mentioned ticket or know someone who is please post a comment to this blog with the following:

*Resume
*8x10 glossy photo
*3 letters from references
*your best grovelling offer

(congrats to Phyllis--another winner of said tickets!)

Yee-Haw!

This past Friday I attended my first rodeo. That's right I've lived in Texas all my life and never been to the rodeo. It was fun but I'd have to say I haven't been missing out on too much. I went with Brooke, Ross and Lauren. Brooke's cousin was competing in the barrell racing--she ended up getting second place. The bare back riding and bull riding looked so incredibly painful. I kept thinking about how much money chiropractors make off of these people.

After the rodeo we found out that Brooke's cousin is dating George Strait's son--whoa!!! So as we took Ross over to the guy's house for He-man night Brooke got to tell the guys, mainly Phil. Apparently he was speechless.

Man of my Dreams

After a head-spliting night class (it's all about Paradoxes and stuff I have no business learning) and an invigorating game of ultimate, I came home to find a handsome, suave man waiting for me in my living room...

Ok so he was on the television screen but still he was there the moment I opened the door. Robin was on the couch watching the all-time greatest show ever: X-Files. As soon as I walked in the door David Duchovny flashed on the screen. I simply stopped in my tracks. Robin either asked me a question or said something to me but I heard nothing. My eyes were fixed on the prize. I haven't seen him in weeks. Our ususal evening dates, which began during the summer, have been called off on account of school work. Last night gave us some time to rekindle the magic we had. (I hope the girls that read my blog enjoy this--you know you do the same thing with other celebs!)

I have to point out that David Duchovny is the king of rolled up sleeves. I would bet that in almost every episode of X-Files, at some point, he has his sleeves rolled up. And it is one of the sexiest things ever! There's just something about those forearms that really turn girls on...well, at least me. Guys need to learn and utilize this technique--I promise the girls will come running. All it takes is a couple of rolls!

David Duchovney why won't you love me?

"In the Still of the Night"

Last night the coolest thing happenend in the Relm's front yard. Brooke's 20th birthday was yesterday (yea!). After church Robin and I returned home where Brooke was waiting for Ross to come over so they could watch a movie or something (she wasn't sure what they were planning to do). Robin and I began doing homework in our respective rooms. At about 9:30ish I heard a knock on the door and thought it was Ross. A few seconds later Robin rushed in my room telling me I had to come see what was happening. I go to the front door and a group of the guys (Marcus, Billy, Daniel, Phil, Bret, Zach, Stephen, and Ross) were standing outside dressed up in suits and ties! Ross was singing "In the Still of the Night" while the rest of the guys were singing the backup. It was so incredibly awesome!!! They sounded incredibly great. Robin got pics with her digital camera, and from her body language and the smile on her face we could tell Brooke was in heaven. After they finished the song Ross came in and I went back to my room to study. Robin said the guys wanted to talk to us. We then realized that they were "kidnapping" us so that Brooke and Ross could have some time alone. So they took us to Whataburger...where else? So here were the guys looking amazingly GQ in their suits and Robin and I were in our pajamas--Robin without any shoes (Stephen took his socks off so she had something to wear) and me in my blue, fuzzy slippers. It was such a fun night. Kudos to Ross for such a great birthday present!

Middle School Mania

Yesterday my education block class had an orientation at Mann Middle School. Being from Abilene and going through the education system here, I know all about the titles placed on the schools. For example Lincoln, where I went, was know as the prep school, Franklin was the somewhat ghetto school, but Mann was known as the worst middle school in town. In eight grade I went to Mann on Fridays for ALPS, a special challenging program. Everytime we went we were all incredibly scared of the students there. Truthfully it was never that bad of a school. The rumors and middle school perceptions made it worse than it was.

After taking a tour of the school, I made my way towards the faculty bathroom in the faculty lounge (yes I actually got to go in the faculty lounge--I've always wanted to see one...what a sad life). On my way into the building I had an encounter with a middle school student. He was an office worker and as he came out of the building he asked if I was the Choir teacher. I told him I wasn't and then he noticed my ACU nametag. He said, "Oh, you're one of those student teacher people". I told him I was more of an observer but would be student teaching soon. He then asked what a student teacher is. I explained that we are learning how to become real teachers. He then welcomed me to the school and shook my hand. He was such a funny kid.

This Thursday I start my first observation at Abilene High!

The Great Ice Cream Caper!

Last night after 9:00 I was planning to go to the library to find a book that I need to read for a class. Brooke and Ross said they were going to Dairy Queen for blizzards and were inviting others to join. I decided I could take 30 minutes for a Brownie Batter Blizzard (yum!). I called Robin to invite her to tag along too. I reached the DQ on ambler first and was disappointed to see it was closed. I stopped in the parking lot to call Brooke and while I stopped I noticed the greasy haired, muscle-shirt wearing, tattoo gorging man lighting his cigarette. I quickly vacated the premises.

I called Brooke and Ross and Robin to tell them it was closed. So we decided to try the one on Mockingbird. While driving down Ambler I saw Ross's truck ahead so I sped up to catch them. Well, let's just say they almost witnessed my death as I didn't notice the person in front of me breaking for the red light. Luckily I caught it in time to prevent any car damage. Robin then called me to say that she was at the Mockingbird DQ and it was closed.

So Brooke and I decide we would go to Shake's. The last time I went there it was open until 11:00. But alas the lights were turned of and the building was a deserted of desserts. So Ross, Brooke and I waited for Robin, Katie, and Billy to show up to figure out what to do. We thought we would go to Super W and just buy pints of ice cream. Robin needed to get stuff and Walmart so she said she would meet us there. But when Billy and Katie showed up we decided to go to Sonic down the road. So I had to inform Robin and she said she would meet us there.

Katie was the first to order her Sonic treat--a reeses peanut butter cup blast. Brooke started to order her oreo blast when the sonic worker informed us that after Katie's order they ran out of ice cream! Who runs out of ice cream?!?!? And of all nights for that to happen...We were all so distraught. We finally decided to get frosty's at Wendy's. Unfortunatly Robin was already on her way to Sonic when I called her to tell her to turn back around and head to Wendy's.

At 11:15 we finally sat down to our well-deserved ice cream. (Needless to say I did not make it to the library that night).

A Cry for the Oldies

Yesterday and today I've had a major inkling to watch some old movies. One that I haven't watched in a long time and is an all time favorite for me is Singing in the Rain. Gene Kelly...what more could a girl ask for? He sings, he dances, he sweeps me off my feet. (sigh) I also could go for some Doris Day romantic comedy: Pillow Talk, Glass-Bottom Boat, The Thrill of it all. And then there are the comic-westerns: The Second Time Around with Debbie Reynolds (also in Singing in the Rain) and Andy Griffith (familiar theme song starts whistling). Another good funny western movie is Cat Ballou with Jane Fonda. And I'm always up for a good Audrey Hepburn movie--any day any time. My favorite Audrey movie (and possibly my favorite old movie) is without a doubt Roman Holiday. Another fine looking gentelman is present in this flick: Gregory Peck...mmmm...my heart warms at the sound of his name. Two of my other favorite Audrey movies are not as well known: Wait Until Dark and How to Steal a Million. Audrey plays a blind woman in the first movie--it's quite a thriller! I really wish I owned all of these movies so I could plop on the couch and watch them over and over again. But alas they are not in my possession, though I do own a few oldies movies, none of which are on this list but are still good. I really think we need to have an old movie night and watch non-stop movies from the 50's and 60's! It has to happen. If you share in my love of the old films, let me hear a whoop whoop!

Open Door...Enter Real World

Today my Education Block class had an orientation at Abilene High. It was so weird for me since I attended and graduated from there. But it was also a lot of fun to be back. I don't know how other people's high school years were, but my time in high school was filled with lots of fun and many, many memories. While I was walking down the halls, floods of memories came rushing on me. It was great. As we were leaving I came down the stairs and saw Mr. Moore, my favorite teacher of all time, come out of the office. He is one of the AP Geography teachers, and I accredit him as being the one who got me started into wanting to be a history teacher. His teaching style is fun, energetic, and inspiring. I was so glad that I got to see him! Next Tuesday we go to Mann Middle School for another orientation and then next Thursday I begin my first session of observation with Mrs. Hamity(?) at Abilene High. This whole experience is so exciting and I can't wait to see what happens during the course of the semester.

It Pays to go to Department Chapel

I always dread (as most people do) going to departmental chapel. The history crew isn't always the most enthralling gang at ACU. But today there was a special treat awaiting us. As I came in I noticed a few special guests sitting in the back. I wasn't sure who they were or why they would waste their time at history chapel. Then there was buzz about a special guest speaker. Who should it but RM!!!! That's right that studmuffin Royce Money. (Julie and Phyllis I'm sure you are envying me right now). Apparently RM received his doctorate in church history. So Dr. Hoover asked him to speak to us about how history affects his job as the president of a university. This probably was and will be the only good history chapel.

One week down...14 more to go! This week has gone fairly well. This semester is going to be challenging but I think it will be fun and rewarding as well. It's kind of weird to think that this is my last semester of real classes. Next semester I will enter the world of Student Teaching...dum, dum, dum!

Tomorrow, Saturday, I have to be in Chamber 107 at 9:00 in the morning to take a test. One week down and already I'm taking a test. Actually it is a practice test for teacher certification. In order to receive my teacher certification I have to take two tests: one in pedagogy which is mainly all-round knowledge about teaching and then a content test which, for me, will be in history. During the semester we will have labs in which we practice taking both of these tests. Once we make 75% or above we can receive our barcodes to register for the actual test held in October and December. At the testing site we will be fingerprinted and have a criminal background done--they take this thing seriously.

I took part of a content test in my History for Teachers class on Wednesday and it was a bit on the difficult side. So I hope I do fairly well tomorrow so I don't have to take it again til the real thing.

Well, school has started off with a bang. I love the start of school--mainly because it is so dull here in the summer. The campus is rejuvinated by the thousands of students who return. I guess I sort of thought this year would be like my senior year of high school--a few challenging classes but mostly some time to rest and relax. That thought soon died as I came to the revelance of the end of my college career. The first day of school was good. I had two classes that were pretty normal: American West and History for Teachers (a class where pretty much all we do is take practice tests to get us ready for the content exit test for certification). One thing that was kind of a big load was the fact that in the History for Teachers class we have to read four history high school textbooks during the semester (whoa!). The next day was very overwhelming with lots of information. I had my education block class which is on Tues./Thurs. from 12-3. I thought on the first day we would get out early so I decided not to eat lunch before hand and wait till class got out. Well, I didn't get to eat til 3:30 in my office and it was a lovely bag of Cheetos. I found out I have to do 45 hours of observation at AHS, develop a unit with 5 lesson plans, actually teach in the class I am observing, and many other things. It's really scary--I'm actually beginning my teaching career. I think this sememster is going to be harder and more time consuming than any other I've had so far. Eh, that's life. There may be many nights this sememster that I rely on my friends Hershey and Godiva to get my through ;)

In the Darkness

For quite some time now I have been walking down a lighted path toward the future. I had everything planned out: apply to graduate schools (mainly UT), finish senior year, graduate, then start my life as a grad student. I was so proud of myself for knowing what I was going to do months before graduation came. But yesterday crushed my aspirations, leaving me confused and bewildered in the darkness.

On Wednesday I made my way to the grand city of Austin. I was so excited--it was my first trip all by myself. I made tons of maps so I wouldn't get lost. I even had hotel reservations at the Holiday Inn. My reason for this trip was to talk to the history graduate school at UT. I spent Wednesday night finding my hotel, finding the building at UT I was suppose to go to tomorrow, and just touring downtown Austin. I went down 6th street and saw the capitol (so cool!).

My meeting was at 2:00 that afternoon. I made sure I looked casually formal, classy but not overdone. The meeting was very interesting and I gained a lot of information, some I didn't want to hear. The subject I wanted to do my masters in, Modern Europe, requires language experience in either German or French. The problem with that is I took Spanish back in high school. Shot number 1. Then I told her about my degree and how I was following a teaching plan. She said based on that degree it would be more beneficial to take a year or two off from school and enter the teaching field to get a taste of the work force. Shot number 2.

I was so confused and let down. I was basing everything on going to grad school before teaching. I walked around the campus for a little bit on my way to my car. I then started the drive back to Abilene. I'm very thankful that I was on the right highway because for the first 30 minutes I zoned out, deeply thinking about what my future plans would be. As of now I think I will enter the teaching field after graduation. But even that holds many uncertainties. What if I don't pass the certification test? What if no one hires me? Where will I be teaching? My world has been thrown for a loop and it's hard for me to accept it. I'm a person who enjoys plans and structure--at least with this sort of thing.

Well, I have a year to get use to this new plan so I will try to put all this behind me and live up my senior year as best as possible!

Faith is the Victory

This Sunday at church the communion was led by Jeff Childers. He directed the comments toward the children of the church but indirectly it was also pointed at the adults. He asked the kids to ask their parents or adults around them what the bread and wine meant to them. I found this question to be very intriguing. Yet when the plate was passed to me and I was asked "what does this meant to you?" I stated that truthfully I didn't know. At first I thought that I had copped out of the question, diverging a situation that caused me to open up and share feelings and beliefs. But as I thought about it I realized my statement was the truth.

In my heart I know that the communion is a symbol of our Savior's great love, devotion and sacrifice. That's what we have been told by preachers and through the Bible. But the problem I realized on Sunday was that I don't know what it means to me on a personal level. How do I view Jesus? Do I accept and respect the gift he gave me with the amount of reverence that I should? This realization really shook me up the rest of the service. And the feelings continued in the middle school class as we talked about sitting and listening to God speak to us...an activity I truthfully never exercise.

I realized that my spiritual life has been on a roller coaster. Not the kind that goes up high peaks and down valleys, symbolizing struggles and times of joy, but rather like a roller coaster that spins and loops in every direction causing confusion and disorientation. I don't know where I am with my spiritual life. I don't spend time with God as I should and it bothers me immensly. To those of you reading this blog, whether you know me or not, I would ask that you pray for me and my relationship with God. Thank you.

Quote to Ponder

"Vanity working on a weak mind produces every kind of mischief. "

(A quote from one of the best movies: Emma)

Small Vacation

This weekend I was able to take my small vacation of the summer. It was going to be a family vacation but my dad was unable to get away from work (this is his busiest time of the year). So on Friday my sisters and I drove to my grandmother's house in Dallas. My mom joined us later that night. The main thing we were looking forward to was Six Flags on Saturday. I haven't been in at least 4 years and this time it was just going to be us kids--no parents to hold us back!

We got to the park pretty much at the time it opened and we stayed til it closed. We didn't take time for sitting breaks or restroom breaks--we were on a mission. We did stop for lunch just to regain our strenght for those long lines. We even decided to forego supper so we could ride more rides! We rode practically all of the large roller coasters. I was amazed at how much my sisters have grown up. I remember the times at Six Flags when you couldn't pay them to get on a roller coaster. This time they went on everything--even the Titan (which is one amazing rush!) The only problem we had was on that parachute ride--the one that isn't fast at all, it just goes up then down very slowly. I hate that ride with an unmarketable passion. But I thought maybe this time was different. I sat in the middle of my sisters and the whole time I was screaming in a raspy voice "I hate this ride! I hate this ride! Get me on the ground!" I can take everything else but not those parachutes.

It was such a wonderful day mainly because I got to spend it all with my sisters--I don't get to do that often. They are the best and I could never ask for better sisters!

2 more weeks

2 more weeks...of course this refers to the wonderful union of Curtis and Lauren but it also will means something else. In two weeks Jenny and her fiance Kyle move out of our house!!! We thought this summer when we took in Jenny we were getting one person to help pay rent--little did we know that she and Kyle would pretty much take over the entire house.

I hope those of you reading this don't think me rude in saying this, but I really need a place to vent my frustrations. Kyle is always at our house I wake up at 7:00 in the morning--he is there. I come home for lunch--he is there. I come home at night after work--he is there. And when he and Jenny are at the house they aren't as considerate as Lauren and Curtis who usually hang out in their room. Kyle and Jenny spread out in the living room talking or doing Jenny's homework. It's a little annoying for Robin and I when we want to relax from our long work days in front of the tv.

Another problem is the kitchen. 3/4 of the refrigerator has been taken over by Jenny's food. It's really annoying, especially when I have a craving for some watermelon kiwi kool-aid but realize I can't make any because there isn't any room among Jenny's stuff.  What's odd is that Jenny and Kyle have their own house that they could hang out at, like Curtis and Lauren do. But instead they decide to take over our house and they don't seem bothered by it at all.

I do enjoy Jenny. She is very sweet and fun. I think it's more about when Kyle comes over. Maybe it's that man-hater side of me ;)

Again I apologize for my jerky complaints but I can't keep some of this bottled up anymore. 2 more weeks...

 

Epedimic in ACU AD Building

Today I had the most fun I've ever had working at the Provost office. First of all, a prelude to today, everyone has gone nuts in the AD building. For some odd reason everyone and their dog has decided to paint their offices--noone has been spared--yes, even the Provost office has caught the disease.

This past week we have been painting. I've only been there in the mornings from 8-10 since I have class and my other job. So I haven't done too much. But today I stayed practically all day. What's even greater is that Dr. VanRheenen and Dr. Winter are both out of the office until August so it's just us girls. Today was spent prepping the large office area so we could paint on Friday. We had fun taping the walls, using the dolly to move file cabinets, and finding all kinds of stuff that fell between the cracks of furniture. Stephen Lamb, who works in the registrar's office, and my boss's husband came to help us move the desks (although I think we could have managed without them).

At around 4:00 we realized we needed more blue tape and another gallon of paint. Jana was going to go by herself but Julie made a reference to snow cones. So I went along with Jana so I could use my special benefits to get us free snow cones at New Wave.

We got a lot of work done today but it felt more like playing than working--I wish everyday could be like that in the office.

Weekend Bliss

It seems like lately I blink and the weekend is gone and it's time to get back to both jobs and class...blech. On Friday Robin and I decided to break our watching "I Love the 90's" habit and go to the movies. Neither of us had seen Spiderman II so we ventured to the spine-thrilling, web-throwing flick. Wow--such a great movie! But the best part of the movie for both of us was what happened in the theater. In the middle of the movie this high school guy was walking up the stairs and just flat out bit it. He went down like a sack of potatos...and stayed down for a little bit. We could hear other women in the theater quietly asking if he was alright, but Robin and I were trying our hardest to keep the laughter inside.
 
Saturday involved bike riding, work (of course), and a small time of fellowship. Saturday night Curtis and Lauren invited people over to watch Along Came Polly. So Marcus, Bret, Curtis, Lauren, Robin, and I had some quality time. I can't say too much for the movie--wasn't too impressed.
 
Sunday was sort of depressing in the church sense. I just didn't feel the spiritual pull that I usually do at highland. One reason was that a lot of people that I usually talk to or sit with weren't there. Also Mike wasn't there to preach one of his amazing sermons. In the middle school room I was in the middle of leading my group when the main leader joined the group and just took over the discussion. I knew it had happened when I asked the kids a question and one of the boys said "Oh, I forgot you were here". To top it off I had to work 2-10 at the snowcone stand. I make the day better I came home after work, took a shower, and went straight to bed--it was great.
 
Now I'm ready to start another fun-filled, jam-packed week! (20 days til Curdit and Lauren's Wedding!)

Lock Down

Yesterday I got home from class and accidently locked my keys in my car. The act actually happened in slow motion--like in the movies. The keys were in the seat, I closed the door--as the door was swinging I turned around screaming out "NOOOOO!" while jumping through the air trying to shove my arm in the way of the door. Ok so maybe it didn't happen like that but that would have been cool.

Luckily I was at home when it happened and I didn't have to go to work. Unfortunatly I didn't have a spare key made. So I tried 3 options: (1) First I called Hannah to see if Eric had one of those hooks to open doors. She told me only one cop in Abilene has it and she didn't know who it was--forget that idea. (2) I called the dealership to see if maybe they had a key on hand. The guy told me that the parts department might if I could tell them the number on my car. Just my luck I had my window shades up and the shade was covering up half the number. (3) So I had to call the locksmith--pop-a-lock. The guy that came to get me out had the last name Crawford. He kept trying to see if we were related. I wanted to say "dude, there are tons of Crawford's all over the place!"

As soon as I got the keys out I made a mad dash to get 3 copies of the key. My parents each have one and I have one in the house. Hopefully this won't happen again!

Gratitude from an Odd Situation

Alright so this past Saturday night I did something that I've never done before and is completely unlike my personality. But through this event that was fun but weird I got a true lesson in thankfulness.

I was working at the stand from 6-10 Saturday night when I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. It was a guy who knew me but I didn't recognize his voice. He said it was Josh. I became stiff at that moment because I thought it was scary stalker Josh. But it was another Josh who I met at the stand and who would come and visit me quite often some times. We had this joke between us that we called each other "love biscuit"--what the huey? Anyway he is in the air force now in Wichita Falls but comes to visit occassionally. I gave him my number sometime last year. He called to ask if I wanted to go swimming with him and his friends. I figured it was better than sitting at home watching tv. So he and his friend picked my up at 10:30 and made the drive to po-dunk Buffalo Gap.

The house we went to was out in "no-man's land". It was completely dark (which was very good so noone could see how white I am) and you could see all the stars. Well, these friends were some interesting people who were big drinkers and talked about some very scandolous subjects. Josh had me try a coke with some type of alcohol in it but I didn't like it at all. He only drank a few sips of his drink (probably because I was there--he probably drinks a lot more). I wasn't planning on swimming except that the group of people I was around started talking about really inappropriate things so I joined Josh in the pool. I had Josh tell me who was sober and who was drunk. It was very weird for me and eye-opening--I have never been in a situation like that. I also didn't think drunk people and a swimming pool were a good mix--nor were the fireworks that they pulled out later. I mainly hung out with Josh because I really didn't know how to handle everything else happening around me. After swimming for a while (it was really cold) they took me home--and that was the end of a very interesting night.

I tell this story mainly because this event really opened my eyes to the wonderful blessing God has given me. I am so blessed to have the wonderful group of friends that I have--friends who are incredibly creative and lots of fun. I am so pleased that we don't have to use alcohol to have a good time. And after hearing some of the conversations that night, I'm very glad that our group has a level of maturity and tact. For all of my friends reading this, thank you so much for everything you have meant to me and all you have done for me. I praise God for bringing each and everyone of you into my life! I love all of you guys!!!!!

Update

**************New Post Coming Soon***********************************

(too busy at work this morning--grrr!

**************Look for the Evening Edition***************************

Laughter the Best Medicine

Last night my mom and I went to dinner and a movie. My mom was extremely excited because the last movie she had seen in theaters was Lord of the Rings back in December (sheesh mom, get a life). We went to see The Stepford Wives at Century theater. Being a Thursday night there were a slim number of others in the audience--may be 8 to 10 other people, which sometimes is a bit nicer. So this movie is absolutely hilarious as it cracks one-liners all over the place. My mom and I are dying laughing but no one else in the theater even cracks a chuckle. My mom and I both tend to have rather loud laughs so it was even worse that no one else would laugh. I wanted to hit these people over the head with a humor stick! Didn't you hear what was said?!?! Oy! I'm just glad I come from a giddy (giddy?) family that thoroughly enjoys the gift of laughter.

July 4--a Bang and a Half

So another July 4 has come and passed. At first my holiday night seemed like a short jump away from a suicide attempt but actually turned into an absolutly fun time.

The bad thing about having a job at a snow cone stand (well, ONE of the bad things) is you don't get special holidays off. What's even worse is when a majority of your fellow employees go out of town for the special weekend and you have to cover for them. By covering I mean you have to work 12-10 on a Saturday (but it wasn't that bad because I attended an aerobics class before hand that got me pumped up--thanks Katrina!).

At least on Sunday night I was stationed at the stand on Pine where I would be able to see the fireworks. Everything was good, an occassional few people would come--nothing bad. Then 7:45 hit--I didn't get to shut the window til 9:20. By that time I was a mess. I was inches away from shoving my head in the ice machine blades! Luckily at that time Katrina showed up and helped load me up with ice (Katrina, you have no idea how much that helped--thank you!). Luckily after that my boss's sister came to help. Then Stephanie came, and Jane and Jer. Pretty soon there was a party going on in the snow cone stand. We were making jokes/cracking insults at each other as we made snow cones and filled the bottles. We ended up not closing the stand till 11:00 but I really didn't mind because the great time we had. After closing Stephanie and I went to Whataburger to get celebratory food (it was weird being at Whataburger in normal clothes!).

We have decided that the four of us that worked Pine deserve some shirts that say "I Survived July 4, 2004". If I was asked if I would go through this night again I believe I would say a big, fat yes--it was that much fun!

A Celebration Missed

Yesterday a momentous holiday was sadly overlooked and is overlooked year after year. Thursday, July 1st was not only the highly-glorified Canada Day but also the mark of the middle of the year. That's right folks we have lived through 183 days of 2004. Don't you think that deserves some sort of party or at least a firework or two? The Canadians know what's going on--they've got that day marked as their own. Come on America it's time to jump on the gravy train. This nation is always in need of another day to get off work and stuff our faces with all kinds of goodies. But what kind of foods/celebratory items would there be on Middle of the Year Day? Got any ideas--I'd love to hear them. Thus begins the countdown: 182 days left til 2005!