List Thursday

So I know that tomorrow is Thursday, so it's unfair to call this "List Thursday". But the fact is that I'll likely not get a chance to post tomorrow, and most of you won't see this til Thursday. Plus, it's Thursday in two hours. Actually, one hour and fifty minutes. So bite me.

Here we go...

1) I just found out that next year daylight savings time will start in the second week of March and end in the first week of November.

I think that's stupid.

How will this affect computers and such? And I have an alarm clock with a chip programmed to keep track of the date and time so it automatically resets the time in the whatevereth weekend in April and the last weekend in October. Grrr.

Like I said, stupid.

2) I hate that every morning I drive to work feeling like I'm an hour late. Also, I hate that in the evenings it's DARK when I get home. I'd rather have it be dark in the morning and lighter in the evening.

3) The ONLY redeeming quality of daylight savings time is that it makes (well, now "made") October the longest month, since it has 31 days PLUS the extra hour. Now, no more. Stupid.

4) Ok, enough complaining about stupid daylight savings time.

5) Yesterday I downloaded the following albums. Note the speedily increasing levels of dorkiness as I progressed.

Braveheart soundtrack
Crash soundtrack
Help! - The Beatles
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Titanic soundtrack

Yah. True story.

6) Ok, and this weekend I downloaded songs from the following albums...

The Lion King soundtrack
Aladdin soundtrack
The Little Mermaid soundtrack

7) Yes, I really am 25 years old.

8) Oh! It's 10:16!!!

9) Ok, I have this weird and uncanny ability to see the clock when it's 10:16. Seriously, most of the time I'll not look at the clock for anywhere from 10-45 (or more) minutes, and then I'll just randomly look at the time and it will be 10:16. I think my body is just programmed to know when it's that most awesome time of day!

10) On a more serious note... I just don't know what I want in life. Last week I was certain I wanted to move to Seattle next year. Now I wonder if I should stay here one more year. Should I go see what happens when I'm in the same place as JJ? Should I pursue this new charter school in Connecticut (aka New England, which I LOVE) that's recruiting me? (Side note: I think they're recruiting all T*F!@'ers, not just me) The problem is, I don't know what I want! Usually I just really want something and run after it.

Ugh.

I know I just need to pray more. The Lord has a plan for me and isn't revealing it yet for a reason.

Honestly, God has a sense of humor- "What if His People Prayed?" by Casting Crowns just came on my iTunes. Seriously, all you Christian types get that joke.

11) I really, really, REALLY want an iPod. So bad. I don't remember ever wanting something this bad that I just can't have. It's kind of a sad, sad day.

12) So I realized that my mysterious pain in my side went away, but came back precisely the same day I started PMS'ing. So I'm going to tough it out this month and see if it comes back next mont at the same time. If it does then I'll have to call the doctor. Grrr.

13) Ha- Men in Black by Will Smith just came on iTunes. I love it :)

14) I COMPLETELY cleaned my room, the basement, the bathroom I share with Becca, did three huge loads of laundry (I usually have at least two once a week and I had two weeks of laundry this time), the area where I sort of camp out upstairs, and... uh... something else I can't remember on Monday. And I put together my bookshelves, brought in my books, hung up my AWESOME quote cards from Darla, and organized and filed all of my bills (I hadn't done it since... cough... August... cough....), created a spreadsheet for my house's bills to our landlord (he pays them and then we reimburse him), created a budget for the month, and even finished writing my midterm for my classes on Monday. All in about 7 hours. I know, I'm awesome. Go me.

15) Tomorrow night is conferences when parents come in and meet me and get their child's report card and all of that jazz. I acutally love that night, I'm just not thrilled that I'll be at school until at least 7. And then there's a football game Friday night, and it's our last home game, so though teachers are free to leave at 1 pm to make up for the late night tomorrow night I get to stay at school until 10 or 10:30. Ode to joy, huh? I'm hoping that I'll actually be productive and get work done. We'll see :)

16) It's 10:28 and I get to go to bed! And tomorrow's The Office and Grey's Anatomy and Six Degrees! Oh, and my man Tom Brady is ROCKING it hard this year! Too bad my 'Hawks are struggling. I'm a true fan and loving 'em anyway. Plus, while I know way more about football than most girls, let's be honest- the Seahawks have the hottest uniforms BY far over everyone else in the league. Oh, and the Steelers have a record so bad I can't even remember it! And they haven't even lost their best players to injury, so they have no excuse! I mean, really, neither do we, besides losing the league MVP and our star quarterback, among numerous others-- we should still pull it out and overcome. We better at least beat Oakland, especially since A) I get to see it on Monday Night Football and B) it'll be IN Seattle and C) Oakland SUCKS. OOOOOHHHH- AND Gonzaga tips off in 9 days! Guh-LORIOUS!!

A'ight, I should sleep.

'Night, kids.

I miss my home

[San Angelo, Third Day]

So I went home this weekend. It was awesome. Kind of weird- it felt like some parallel universe. Home was amazing yet not the same. I'm not the same person, nor are any of my friends the same people. Even Whitty has this fancy schmancy new Th0mas Hammer coffee bar and plasma screen TV's and such. My church was really different, too. Not bad different. Just different. Things change. And that's ok, it's just interesting how much the last 17 months have altered the course of my life.

That said, my friends were wonderful. I loved meeting with people one-on-one, and my amazingly great friend Heather even remembered that I had been 25 for less than a week and brought me a birthday present!! That was a huge blessing :) Plus I had rock star friends who get very little down time at their house open it up to a group of us on Sunday. My beloved Seahawks were slaughtered, but other than that it was really enjoyable. Yummy cookies, great friends, football, pizza, being back with people I love and who love me, etc. It was wonderful. Not to mention how great it was to simply be back on Pacific time.

Monday was GREAT. I absolutely loved recruiting. Seriously. I'm in contact with T*F@ people about pursuing a job with them after this year, preferably back in the Se@ttle area. Recruiting was absolutely incredible. I'm too tired to type it all out, but the take-aways were that A) I was right that there are amazing Whitw0rthi@ns who need to join T*F@, and B) I'm good at it! It was so natural because of pure passion in my heart for the movement of which I am a part. My body was absolutely exhausted but I was on such a high from the adrenaline of speaking with people that I was buzzing with energy afterward.

I have a quadrillion things to do and no time to do them, but I really wanted to get this up for people. I know some have been curious and asking about it :) I love you all!

So hard to fathom

[Simply Nothing, Shawn McDonald]

So... it's list Thursday. Here we go:

1) Yay for The Office! I've been totally bonding, primarily with my roomie Liz but also with Becca and a wee bit Elise, over the second season. In fact, I am going to hide the last disc so I can be there when the drama between Jim and Pam goes down in the last episode!

2) Yay for birthdays! I am ridiculously old (I've hit the quarter of a century mark... that's 25 for you slow people!) but as my favorite dude says, I'm on the right side of 25. So... I'm gonna choose to believe him. I was so blessed by people who know me so well getting me perfect gifts- Bec gave me supplies for my very own disguise box, Elise got me the GREATEST Godiva chocolate, Liz told me to take her up on a dinner date some time for some quality one-on-one time with each other, Darla sent me a great bookmark, encouraging me to read more, and that afore-mentioned favorite dude sent me the world's greatest cookies. Not. Even. Kidding.

To be honest... it was a huge blessing because I was given zero presents last year. I mean, the roomies got Bec and I (her bday is three days before mine) a cheesecake. It was kind of heartbreaking, to be honest... but what a difference a year makes. Last year I was homesick, hardened toward God, and feeling completely alone. This year I am SO much closer to Liz, Bec, and Elise which makes home a happy place for me to be (I was the one pushing them away last year), I'm closer to Christ than perhaps at any point in my life in a more real and deep way, I have a peace about where I am and where I'll end up, and I'm simply blessed by my relationships as opposed to hoping they'll fill a void that is God's alone. So... yay! Yay, yay, YAY!

3) Praise Jesus for going HOME!! I am going to recruit for T^F@ this weekend; I'm flying home Saturday and coming back Tuesday. I am SO excited. It hasn't seemed real. Tonight I was making plans with Brendo and I couldn't believe that less than 48 hours existed between that moment and the one where I'd see him for the first time in 17 1/2 months.

Wow.

Just to say that I haven't been home- even in the Pacific time zone- in SEVENTEEN AND A HALF MONTHS seems kind of overwhelming. Yikes.

4) While I'm pumped to see friends (maybe family... not sure at this point) I'm super pumped to recruit. I love what Te@ch f0r @mer!c@ is doing in my school, and in my students' lives, and I just really want to see more quality people joining the movement-- and Whitty (my fond name for my alma mater) is chock full of quality people.

This means YOU Clintonius Maximus! I know you read this. ;)

5) Tomorrow's homecoming. Hectic day of hangin' with the other T^F@'ers from my high school replete with watching the parade and doing a little tailgating in the parking lot pre-game with some students. Then I'll be a keepin' the stats for the actual game. Sweet, right? I know :)

6) That said I have a LOT to do tomorrow so I need to get to bed. I got a done completed tonight but there's still a lot to do tomorrow- it's not easy to be gone for two full days. And... uh, I'll get home at 11 or so and I need to pack. I have to leave my house at like 4:30 am Saturday. I'm just going to try and not think about it! What is sleep, anyway?

:)

Hasta, quesos. And if you're in W@sh!ngt0n, I cannot wait to see you. Seriously. Can't. Hardly. Wait.

PS I LOVE OCTOBER!

Happy October 16th!!!!

And I'll stop this pretending that I can somehow deserve what I already have

[I Need You to Love Me, BarlowGirl]

I am so blessed. Amazing things are happening in my life. There's one relationship that is changing my life for the better and I'll never be the same now that this person has become a part of me. There's another that's less enjoyable; I can't really share details, but God is really working on my heart concerning a difficult relationship. He convicted me today in my quiet time about the fact that every Christian- regardless of his/her spiritual gifts, personality, socio-economic status, station in life, nationality, location, occupation, etc- is called to one common ministry. That ministry is the ministry of reconciliation; every single blood-bought believer of Christ is called to bring restoration of relationship between humans and God. I certainly don't often enough say the words (nor think the thoughts) that keep this reconciliation at the forefront of my daily doings. I want to be more intentional about this, however, and pray that I will.

Also, I am seeing the deep need to remember that I am a steward of all things in my life. Not a single thing in my life is meant for my own personal gain. Sure, I try to remember that I'm a steward of the money and material possessions that God has blessed me with, but I forget that I am also to be a steward of EVERYTHING. I do not own my personality- I am to be a steward of it. I am a steward of my talents, the Word of God, the relationships Christ has blessed me with... ALL things. A steward is responsible to carefully make sure that they use what they have been entrusted with to bring profit and glory to the Master. I can't honestly say I intentionally live this way in my daily life. Again, however, I pray that I will :)

Finally, the Bible study I am currently doing is called LORD, Give Me a Heart for You by Kay Arthur. I love what she wrote in this paragraph that I read this morning:

I think it would be good if every morning, before we ever put our feet on the floor or rise from our bed, we would make the conscious decision that this day, no matter what the discipline, the cost, we are going to live for Christ. It would be the first commitment of the day, spoken aloud- a confession with our mouths from our hearts.

Don't you love that? I do. I'm going to try to start doing it. I might have to shut my alarm off first. Maybe not. But I plan to start doing this. Feel free to ask me periodically if I have.

In other news, I went to the doctor today. My bloodwork showed no abnormalities, though the lab forgot to do the one test that would help show if it's a certain ovarian issue. However, my doctor was alarmed to hear that the muscle relaxers didn't work (so it's almost certainly not a muscle spasm issue), and that when I had HORRIBLE cramps this weekend the 2,000 mg of Tylenol that finally curbed the cramps had zero effect on my mystery back pain. I have to go get a CT scan on Thursday morning (at 7, in Hender$0n, which means I have to leave at like 5:45 AND find a teacher to cover my first period class- boo!). And this is now my daily regimen of pills:

1,000 mg Tylenol
Wait four hours
600 mg Motrin
Wait four hours
2 Aleve tablets
Start back at Tylenol

All day, every day. Ode to joy, huh? I know, I need to stop complaining. It's just frustrating. But, as Paul talked about having a thorn in his flesh, in his side, I have a literal pain in my right side, so I need to let God use it to bring me closer to Him. I do trust Him- be this something small and easily fixed or something more serious. I am in His hands, and my life is His to do with as He pleases. I want to just say, "I'm sure I'll be fine", due to fear of sounding overdramatic if this isn't an actual serious medical issue. But I refuse to play this up OR downplay it. What it comes down to is that I am Christ's and I trust Him.

I was reminded of something this week- it is in Christ that I live and move and have my being. He died for all, so that they [I] who live might no longer live for themselves [myself], but for Him who died and rose again on their [my] behalf. The love of Christ controls me. To live is Christ and to die is gain!

I pray I would live each day on this earth becoming more and more prepared for the Day when I stand before Christ and give an account for all I have done. I pray I would keep the eternal things in mind as I walk through this earthly existence.

PS Happy birthday Brendo!!

PPS Happy second anniversary Darla and Daryn!!

LIst Thursday

For all of you List Thursday lovers, Bekah-the-rock-star-gliznast reminded me that today is, indeed, list Thursday. So buck up, little broncos! Here we go:

• My beloved Seahawks were absolutely creamed by the Bears on Sunday. I'm still reeling from the effects.
  
  
• My beloved Patriots asbolutely creamed the Bengals on Sunday. I'm still reeling from the effects.
  
  
• The Lord has been working on me about my whole belief that the roads belong solely to me and that everyone is simply able to use them at my generosity. Now, I do pay enough in taxes each month to somehow feel justification here, but nonetheless now that He's brought it to my attention I am unable to rest in my old ways. So I pray on the way to work in the mornings, and that has helped A TON. Plus I pray much more consistently which really is needed.
  
  
• Speaking of prayer, my brother was smashed in the face with a baseball bat and mugged in downtown Spokangalangeles. He's all right, though the docs say his nose will never be the same nor look quite right. I feel bad for the kid- he's a few months out of prison and really trying to live right and these are hard times. So if you pray, pray for mi hermano.
  
  
• I can't say "hermano" and not think of the hilarity which ensues from that word on season 1 of Arrested Development. :)
  
  
• Speaking of TV shows, I LOVE LOST! They're so stinking creative and smart on that show. Though I need to understand how the others went from clean little book clubs and muffins houses to the rags they had on at the end of the year. Wait. I think I just figured that out. Nevermind.
  
  
• I wonder where Michael and Walt are. Huh. I forgot about them.
  
  
• I really don't like Kate. Never have, never will. I don't feel sorry for her. Meh.
  
  
• I also love The Office! And it's on tonight! And I've begun to get the roommates hooked on it and oh happy day! And Grey's Anatomy is on as well, and I have decided to give 6 degrees a try mainly because I loved the lawyer dude on Friday Night Lights. And he's really hot. (Sorry, JJ, but he so totally is.)
  
  
• Watching Grey's ALWAYS makes me wish I lived in Seattle!! Someday, someday.
  
  
• I LOVE FOOTBALL!!
  
  
• I had blood drawn today. It was a long hassle including multiple pokes and the needle being shoved around under my skin. She felt really bad, and I'm used to it because no one is ever able to easily get blood from me, but it still sucked. Plus I bled a lot after she pulled the needle out so I can't take the bandage off but the tape really itches on the back of my hand (she had to go from inner arm to back of hand because I have stubborn veins).
  
  
• My students are doing a project on Greece this week. Note to self: One day you WILL visit the Greek islands. Any takers?
  
  
• I'm really hungry.
  
  
• I made delicious lasagna AND delicious chicken noodle soup the other day (both homemade, because I rock).
  
  
• No, my chicken noodle soup does NOT have a soda on the side. (If you get that, then seriously, tell me. Because I bet 98% of you have ZERO idea what I'm talking about.)
  
  
• I will be a quarter of a century old in 11 days. Ho. Lee. Kuh. Rap.
  
  
• I hope my insurance will do gown. I keep meaning to call about that.
  
  
• I get to go home for the first time in 17 months in 16 days!! That'll be sweet. I'm pumped.
  
  
• I'm a little apprehensive that people won't be very excited to see me. I don't really know why. I think I'm just scared of being disappointed? Home not living up to the hype? I hope I'm wrong... and I probably am.
  
  
• I decided to stop going to my church. It was pretty spiritually unhealthy. I'd love for your prayers about where to proceed from here- and I really need to remember to call around about some churches in RoRap (it's a mid-sized town- maybe 15-20 thou- about a half hour away).
  
  
• We have a football game tomorrow against the school one of my roomies teaches at. I hope we win. By a lot. And... I love football, but we only have five games left and I'm kind of glad because I can't wait to actually have Friday nights again!
  
  
• I received a letter and some photos from my child in Uganda that I sponsor. His name is Isaac, he loves God's Word, he's ten, and I really love him so much that getting a letter from him made me cry. Maybe sometime I'll try to figure out how to use my scanner (I know, techie-T@mi hasn't figured out to use her scanner though she's had the printer for a year and a half... bite me.) and put up a pic of him :)
  
  
• That's all for now. Happy list Thursday!!
  

So I ordered The Office season 2. I received this earlier:

This shipment was sent to:

[My name and address were here but I'm obviously not posting THAT to the world]

via USPS (estimated delivery date: 16-October-2006).


So it seems that I'll get a TRUE birthday present! I mean, I had to buy it for myself, but still... yeah, baby!

I'll pretend my ship's not sinking

[King of Wishful Thinking, Go West]

So I was supposed to go get blood drawn for a bunch of tests today. I decided that getting blood taken would make me kind of weak and tired so I might as well just take the whole day off of school. So I did. But the doctor said no eating or drinking after 8pm the night before. I mostly obeyed this (I made DELICIOUS homemade Chicken Noodle Soup- why I capitalized that I don't know- and I had to eat a noodle here and there when putting it away), so as a result I woke up with a killer headache. It was from dehydration- I can always tell because the same vein in my left temple area will KILL.

When I arrived at the doctor's office and told them that I had a dehydration headache they told me to go home, eat, drink lots of water, and come back tomorrow. It would seem that my doctor failed to mention that the one thing I should do is drink lots of water so that my blood will easily flow. Which I sort of was confused about, since I know that water hydrates the veins and allows blood to flow more easily, which would seemingly bode well for getting it drawn.

So... tomorrow I'm going to make sure my principal is cool with me going during my planning period to get this taken care of. My back issue is still happening even with the muscle relaxers so I really don't think it's a muscular issue. Oh, medical issues. Hopefully it will all be resolved. I'm tired of typing so that's all I'm gonna say for now.

Other than LOST comes back tonight! T-1 hour 50 minutes and counting! Yay!!

4 Things... Randomosity

I don't really feel like typing a real update. So instead I'm just gonna type 4 random things each about any random subject I can think of. Maybe you'll like it. Maybe you won't. But read it... you might learn something new about me or my life!

4 Things... Randomosity about:

MY JOB
1. I am known by what appears to be every student in my high school where I teach, though I know only about 1/2 of them (there are 950+ and this is only my second year, so give me some grace here).

2. Chaleese, a senior and in my first semester of teaching last year, claims this is because my reputation is for being a cool but good teacher.

3. I can't decide if that's true or if she's just sucking up for college recommendation letters ;)

4. My principal reprimanded me yesterday for not taking a day off to go to the doctor (I might have broken my foot, or at least fractured it, when I fell down the stairs; also, I have this weird either back pain or kidney thing going on. I'm not sure which. But I really just haven't dealt with either. I never really go to the doctor. Until my principal essentially rebukes me. And then I think about it a little more... and go, "Nah.")


My House
1. I'm pretty sure its worth is in the vicinity of $800,000+ ... and this is an economically depressed area.

2. My rent is only $280 a month.

3. That's almost $100 less than the (less than stellar) apartment I stayed in this summer. And I have my own room and share my bathroom with only one (very low-maintenance) roomie.

4. And I get a garage to myself. Yeah, life is good. Plus, we have a pool table, big screen TV, lake, beach, big back deck with furniture, huge double-decker dock with loads o' lounge chairs, really nice furniture, a big 10-person dining room table plus a five-person breakfast nook, and on and on. It's a blessing :)

MY ROOMMATES
1. This is perfect to do fours because I have four. So... let's start with Jenny. She has long red hair and is going to donate 10" of it to Locks of Love- how awesome is that? And she's from Pennsylvania.

2. Becca can read my mind. Seriously. Ninety percent of the time we are thinking the exact same thing about any given subject. The other ten percent we disagree with the other but still know her exact stance on ths issue. She's from New York (Rochester, to be more exact.)

3. Elise chews a gazillion pieces of gum a day. And her boyfriend is named Mac, but we all (ok, Liz and I) call him Mac-Attack. She's from New Jersey.

4. Liz's boyfriend Matt is going to circus college in Australia. I'm not even kidding. He's specializing in juggling. He's a rock star. She's very artsy and encourages my creativity to flow. And she's also from New Jersey (same basic town as Elise, actually.) And she went to the same college as Jenny (Bucknell... and don't worry, if you're from the West Coast no one else out there has heard of it either, though to speak to Jenny you'd think it's a huge deal and everyone's heard of it ;) That's just the split between East and West Coast for ya.)

MY CAR
1. It's an Acura. 1992 Vigor. It's a five speed (aka stick shift, because it is- and I am- awesome) with a five cylinder engine (yeah, I know that's not normal but I'm not making it up, and I know what I'm talking about.). It's luxury so it has all the ammenities- auto everything, leather, sunroof, sedan, etc.

2. I only paid $600 for it. Because Jesus loves me. And, despite having 240k+ miles it still runs really well. I love my car!

3. It has some sort of electrical problem. Things that have recently quit working (over the last couple of months) include: the inside dome light, the interim setting on the windshield wipers, the rear defrost, first the front and then rear passenger side windows, the dinging bell when you open the door and forgot to turn your lights off, the car charger (aka cigarette lighter but I only ever use it for my cell phone and will eventually when I get an iPod for the car hook-up) and... probably some other stuff I am forgetting.

4. Yeah, I know, I really need to get it checked out. I will. Eventually.

MY HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
1. I really, really want to call Seattle home.

2. Some of you assume this is because of a boy... yes, he's part of it, but my main reasons range from wanting to be closer to friends and family to love of the city (seriously, I've been to 25 states and many bigger cities and Seattle still is by far the best) to being able to watch my favorite teams (college and pro) on the local stations to loving the weather (hey, I don't really like the sun. So what?).

3. But, to be fair, yes, there is still the large curiosity about what God is going to do between a certain (wonderful and amazing) male friend and I once we live in the same place.

4. My hope is that I will be able to work in recruiting for T.F.@ in the greater Seattle-metro area at local colleges and universities. They take really good care of their employees (benefits and salary are among the best in non-profit organizations nation wide) plus it would fit my passion to see low-income and often racial-minority students receive a fair and equitable education.


That's really all I've got for now. But I hope you enjoyed it :) Someday I'll post some of the awesome and random pics I've been taking... I love taking random pics :)

I will be the wall when you fall down

[Renaissance, Mat Kearney]

My title lyrics are from a simply amazing song. Seriously. Go buy it. Right. Now.

In other news, I am ridiculously tired. I got home just before nine last night (aerobics and then back to school to see some of my boys in their soccer game) and then at 8:30 tonight (some of my girls had a volleyball game and then Bible study). I'm SO TIRED. It's ok. I just am finishing up prepping for tomorrow's bingo review game in third period and then I need to write a quiz and figure out what first and fourth period are doing. And it's ten pm. Ode to joy.

The good news is we get out at 1 tomorrow due to the fair. So that's happy. I was going to go but honestly I think I just want to come home. I guess we'll see how I'm feeling when school gets out. I need to write a 50-100 question Unit Test tomorrow and it will take some serious thought and time, so that's on my agenda. Not to mention that Friday I'm having a party for third period because they have the highest percentage of people earning an A or B and getting 3's (85-92%) and 4's (93-100%) on all assessments (their numbers are 71% and 51%, respectively) so I promised I'd make them cookies... and Thursday night I have aerobics and won't be home until 7:30 and I have to call all parents of students with D's and F's, and that's The Office / Grey's Anatomy night. Plus tomorrow I have to call all parents of students who don't return the progress reports I handed out yesterday (they have to be signed by their parents). Oh, and I had like 7 kids doing make-up work in my room today after school, which is awesome, but it meant that I accomplished nothing on my to do list.

I'm not really upset or anything. I'm not even in a complaining mood, I guess I just needed to take a break and write it all out. But five minutes are gone now and I really want to somehow be in bed by 10:30 if at all possible so my 5 AM alarm won't be quite so painful.

Hasta, lovelies.

PS False start count on the Giants... 2 and counting

[Update, 4:52 EDT: 3 and counting]

PPS I loves me some Deion Branch in a Seahawks uniform!

Are YOU ready for some football?

I'm sitting on the couch in my basement watching (my beloved) Seattle Seahawks. And we just got a touchdown!! Life is good.

The Bengals owninated the Stealers (intentionally spelled that way) on their own turf, the Pats are televised tonight, and I actually get to see the Hawks play on TV for the first time this year.

Sweet.

I love all the shots of the gorgeous city of Seattle, all the supa-dupa-crazy-loud 'Hawks fans in the loudest stadium with the BEST AND MOST LOYAL fans in the NFL! I wish I lived there. Perhaps in a year from now I will and I'll be AT the game! One can hope. I sure do.

Go Seattle! I heart you guys!

Long Live Living if Living's like This

[Miserere, The Cat Empire]

Today was lovely. I woke up around 11... well, that was the third and last time I woke up. Then I came up, made some (delicious) cookies and Liz and I agree they're seriously some of the best cookies EVER (chocolate chip, yay!), and cleaned the house. Then she was rockin' it hard in this super sexy straight from the 60's dress, and I decided I wanted to dress in a disguise.

You see, Liz has a box of disguises. Just all sorts of random hats and gloves and capes and wigs and dresses of utter randomosity. So I wore clothes I normally never would (still too tight... I can almost wear them comfortably but not yet so the normal me wouldn't ever wear them), did my make-up far more dark than normal, and donned a black wig and it was just sexy. We decided that this person's name is Miko and she's dark and disturbed. Here are some pics of Peggy (Liz) and Miko (me):


Dressing up was fun. So then I played around with the camera. These are my favorite two of "Miko":
I love my eyelashes in the top one. In the bottom one, isn't my right eyebrow (actually on the right since it's upside down) a thousand times better than my left one? I really wish my left eyebrow was smooth and didn't stand up straight, all one direction the way my right eyebrow is :)

So... after dressing up, we were invited to dinner and swimming at Carolyn's house (she lives with 6 other people but I'm too lazy to type 'em all out). That was quite fun. Then we were headed home but Josh called and convinced us to stop by their (the boys') house so we dropped in for an hour-ish. While there we were invited to dinner tomorrow night (word is that Corey's making manicotti- YUM!) so we said we'd come but only if everyone's dressed in disguises. So that's tomorrow's plan.

Once we got home Liz and I had a crazy dance party to some Jethrow Tull and Meatloaf on vinyl. That was sexy. We were just running crazy-like around the living room and being awesome. Then we ate some cookies to completely nullify working off all those calories. But my foot hurts like crazy... I feel that I may have nearly broken it. Nuts. Now we have Annie Hall on and I was gonna be artsy-craftsy and modge podge but I'm too tired. I'm gonna head to the esleepiendo zone.

But that reminds me- here are the promised pics of my non-spilled everything from when I fell down the stairs. Enjoy, and note the full glass of water not even spilled. Amazing, huh? :)


Ok, and since I'm in picture posting mode, isn't my room SO nice now that I make my bed everyday? Go me :)

You know all the right things to say

[Too Little, Too Late, Jojo]

Thursday... LIST DAY!!

• I. Love. The. Office.
  
  
• Yesterday I had to run a bunch of errands before Bible Study so I decided to set up shop and work at Subway for a little while. A girl (woman?) seemed REALLY excited to see me and hugged me and told the little boy with her (her son?) to say, "Hi, Ms. ^*." She commented on how great it was to see me, and I smiled and had no idea what to say because I had no idea who she was. Yeah.
  
  
• The other day at school a black teacher started talking (well, shouting) about how all white people are liars and thieves. He kept saying (to a white male teacher), "YOU went over on the boat!". [This was in reference to slavery; I am passionate against racism, and I am not justifying slavery. That said, I would just like to point out that it was the Spanish, not Anglo-Saxons, that started the transatlantic slave trade; also, once the United States was involved, it was not primarily white people that captured Africans- it was rival African tribes getting rich off the capture and sale of their enemies. Again, slavery was horribly wrong. But it's just as wrong to make ignorant and sweeping statements like accusing a person today of being part of the slave trade just because they happened to have been born with white skin. Grrr.]
  
  Anyway... back to the situation... I was just like, "What. The. Heck. Is HAPPENING here??". What do you do in that situation? Plus, it was in the cafeteria with kids all around. And the black teacher was really loud in his yelling about it. The white teacher pointed to a fellow T^F@ who is a white male, fresh out of college, and said, "What about them?". The black teacher said, "They are different! YOU are a redneck! Rednecks are liars and thieves." Now, there was some element of kind of a little bit of humor, but mainly it was just the most awkward situation of my life. Stinking N0rth C@r0lin@.
  
  
• The Office was HILARIOUS. And sad. And good. And totally not offering up resolution.
  
  
• Grey's Anatomy is good so far. It makes me REALLY wish I lived in Seattle. Well, I wish I lived there because of this show and... other things. :)
  
  
• Tonight I fell down the stairs. I'm such a freaking idiot. I refuse to turn lights on. So I had my dinner (a DELICIOUS salad made with spicy black bean burgers, romaine lettuce, black beans, salsa, onions, black olives, some cheese, and a little ranch) in a big bowl in one hand and a tall, full glass of ice water in the other. Because it was dark I thought I was on the last stair and started to take the last step and walk forward... and totally fell. Because it sure wasn't the last step. And by some miracle nothing spilled though I ended up laying on my back with some pain in my feet and calves from getting all banged up. Yet not a thing spilled. Miracle. I have a picture but my cord is at school. You'll see soon enough though.
  
  
• I'm SO glad tomorrow's Friday. So glad. I need some sleep.
  
  
• I really want an iPod. *sigh*
  
  
• I'm TOTALLY going home for the first time since June 5th of LAST year in a month!
  
  
• Plus... it's almost my birthday! Yeah, dude. Sweet :) Too bad I'll be FREAKING old. A quarter of a century. Ack.
  
  
• And... time to write tomorrow's quiz. Happy Almost Friday!
  

The phone call went really, really well.

:)

Looking for something I've never seen

[Trust Me, The Fray]

I wait so long between updates that I never know where to start. Then again, my life consists primarily of 16 hours a day committed to school and two hours for showering/Quiet Time in the Word/cooking/eating/driving to and from school/a random e-mail/etc. Then on a good night I get 6 hours of sleep.


So... let's see. I went to a soccer scrimmage Friday since a bunch of my boys play and there was no football game (it's our bye week). Then I came home and had a grading party with the roomies. We watched Empire Records as we worked, and Jen and I grabbed some (tragically sub-par) cheesesteaks from Andy's. Yesterday was a P*D^D (Pr0fessi0nal Devel0pment D@y) in Durh@m for T*FA so we went down around 11, got a little (mostly useless for me) training in Excel, then spent three hours doing random T*F@ stuff (all group meeting, then Le@rning Te@ms where you go with everyone in your content area to swap ideas, help each other out, etc).

After the P^DD we went to hang out at a local bar/restaurant called Tyler'$ Tapr00m. I had the BEST po' boy sandwich (shrimp... yum!) and garlic fries ever. We all joked about how there'd be no making out for us since we all ordered/picked off of other's fry orders. Then there was some pool, some hanging out, some football watching (um... WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO NOTRE DAME???). Then we decided to go to Franklin Street in Chapel Hill (yes, the same one where UNC-Ch@pel Hill is located). That's pretty much the street with all the bars, and not really my favorite scene, but I was in a car with three other people and Liz was a rock star and drove so it wasn't a huge deal. I mostly was tired/bored so I texted friends and tried to stay awake. The wine bar we were at was actually pretty chill... it had a great atmosphere and swell ambience. I happened to not mention the HOUR we drove around trying to find a place to park. But in the end it was fine. I drove home because A) I really like night driving and B) if I didn't drive we would have stayed with friends in Durham and I really like sleeping in my own bed so I wanted to come home. We got home at 2 am, and when my alarm went off this morning I was on 5 hours of sleep and made the lack of sleep-induced stupor based decision to turn my alarm off and go back to bed. And then I woke up later, fervently hoping it was like nine, but it was noon. Oops. I guess I probably needed the sleep, but it's still annoying.

Today I'm going to work for (hopefully) a solid 5-6 hours, then the boys are coming over at 6 for dinner, and then after that a guy friend is calling for the first time. There's a lot that could be said there, but really at this point it's on a need to know basis and those who need to know what's going on already know. It's all very low key and will be for a long time, but if ever there's a major step out of "friends with feelings there but waiting on the Lord to make His will clearly known" mode I'll tell the world. But at this point that's where we are.

Happy Sunday, and I hope everyone has an AWESOME week. There was an exciting development in what might possibly happen in my future per job and moving to Washington, but at this point it's all hypotheticals and I simply don't have the time at the moment to write it all out. When I think I do have time, however, I certainly will tell you all about it.

This could very well be my only post this week, so I hope it's plenty long enough for you ;)

PS Go Seahawks! Let's get like 6 touchdowns today to make up for last week! And the same to the Pats!

And that's why I love him

"... I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am a living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has. It is in order that each of you may have through this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise and intelligence ; that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations. It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our birthright..."
~~Abraham Lincoln, speaking to the 166th Ohio Regiment in 1864

Give a Little Bit of Your Love to Me

[Give A Little Bit, Goo Goo Dolls]

Monday is list day this week.

• The Seahawks signed Deion Branch!! Yippee!!
  
  
  
• Though I only got five hours of sleep and had to plan SUPER quickly last night and was pretty much uncertain how today would go, it was a great day. We actually needed an entire hour for logistical stuff, so that was super helpful.
  
  
  
• Today was the first time someone other than my roommates asked me if I've been losing weight. And I was able to say, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've lost like 50 or 60 pounds." Oh, happy day :)
  
  
  
• I went to aerobics and not only did I not hate my life but I ALMOST had fun. Not quite fun yet, but I at least enjoyed being there and enjoyed the routine it's allowing me to get into.
  
  
  
• I bought supreme unleaded gas (my preferred choice since I drive an Acura and Japanese engines run better longer on higher octane gas) for $2.59 today! Yeah, baby.
  
  
  
• My dinner was ABSOLUTELY delicious and ridiculously healthy. It included lots of salsa (instead of mayo on a black bean burger and a wrap... I couldn't decide between the two but both have so many vegetables that I didnt' really feel bad for eating both), tons of vegggies (tomatoes, leafy green lettuce, red onion, and something I'm forgetting) and pesto. Yay, pesto!! And yeah, weird as it sounds, pesto and salsa go really well together :)
  
  
  
• Thus far it seems the anniversary of 9/11 has been (praise God) rather uneventful. I'm very grateful for that answer to prayer.
  
  
  
• I had something else but it's gone now. Happy Monday that's nearly Tuesday which is just that much closer to Friday!
  

I don't really have time to say a lot. Other than that I'm not dead and hopefully I'll update tomorrow. Eighteen hour work days sort of start to catch up with you :)

Hurricane Day

So, for only the third time since 1999 my county closed schools today.

The reason?

ERNESTO!

I actually am sort of annoyed that there was no school because it utterly messes with my plans, but it's been a decent day. Crazy weather though. A tree blew down in our yard, our $800,000 house has sprung a leak or two, and when Jenny, Liz, and I drove into town to our respective schools (they teach at two different elementary schools, I teach at the high school) I had to be super careful because of downed trees in the roads and such.

Bec and I sang some duets on karaoke. I almost fell asleep singing so I went to lay down from 4:30 to nearly 6:30. That was mostly because Amy (TF@'er at my school) called at 5:30 to tell us school was cancelled, and Elise, Liz, Jenny and I all just stayed up. I made scrambled eggs at 6 am. Liz ate Oreos at 6:56 am. It was hot.

Now I'm trying to wake up and ignore the pain in my lower back and extremities (ok, and mainly my butt) from my first bout of aerobics last night. I think I may actually go work out on the elliptical in an hour or so once the Aleve kicks in just to help me feel awake. I really do have a lot- LOT- of work to do so I want to get goin' on that tonight. I know, what a nerd on a Friday night, but such is the life of a teacher :)

For anyone that did realize that Ernesto was headed straight for me and was stressed about it, don't worry- I'm fine. I'll post some pics for y'all later of the downed tree and Jenny and I acting crazy in the hurricane (ok, tropical storm, but whatever). But we've been blessed- the tree fell in the opposite direction of our house and didn't hit anything- not even the landscaping. And it was a big tree. And then our power only blipped for a quick second, but that's good too. It was a fun day :) I doubt anyone really noticed or was worried, but if you were, there's no need!

A'ight- lata killas.