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