What have I been up to lately?

PRAYER REQUEST:

I just found out that my pedicurist, Nadine, was involved in a car accident last week and she was pretty banged up. I know she has a ton of appointments that she needs to keep so that the at-fault driver's insurance pays the bills--especially since Nadine does not have health insurance of her own. Please pray for a speedy recovery and no lasting side-effects from the accident. I know money is tight and this couldn't have happened at a worse time for her.

Thank you!

"What have I been doing the past couple of weeks"? you ask. Well, let me show you...

I'm crocheting a blanket for my real dad in Texas. His favorite color is red and it gets REALLY cold there during winter, so hopefully I'll finish it in time for his Christmas present. (If not, his birthday is in January.) The yarn is a feathery chenille and it's so fluffy. Madison enjoys it as well--although she likes to play with the yarn and the crochet hook even more.

My best friend, Judy, retired from the Social Studies classroom and moved to Sylvania, Georgia. She came back last week for a retirement reception in her honor at the school where we first met and worked together. Here's a picture of Judy and her mom. (Of course she'll kill me for putting this picture of her with her mouth open online, so if you don't hear from me for a couple more weeks, you might want to check on me--Judy's REALLY good with a hunting rifle!)

I'm very happy that Judy finally gets a chance to "get out of Dodge" and spend time with her Mom and husband after all of this time, but I'm also a tad bit jealous. If I stick with this particular school system, I have 22 more years before I can retire. :( (Especially since they refuse to accept my year in Texas...Grrrrrr......) I know she's put in her time, but I really miss her. Not only has she been a true friend, she's also been my spiritual mentor since we met. In fact, right before she left, Judy gave me a copy of Beth Moore's study on David with the 90 day devotional journal and the accompanying CD! She also gave me a bracelet that says "With God, all things are possible." Something that I need reminded of on a daily basis.

I've also been helping my grandmother with a project she's working on for my grandfather. Papaw (Hey! I couldn't say Grandpa or Grammy, so we have Papaw and Nanny!) was in the Navy when he was younger and sailed on the U.S.S. Amman. Nanny is working on an album for him and I've been trying to get some negatives and slides of the pictures he took printed so she can use the pictures in the scrapbook she's making for him. These are not the best quality, but here are some of the pictures:

This is Papaw on one of the ships. He was a radioman and typed up all of the messages that came through in Morse Code. Unfortunately, the news came in so fast that he didn't really have time to process the letters he was typing into words. (Too bad--he probably knows all kinds of secrets.) The other picture is of him at one of the piers. I think it's in San Francisco.





I also celebrated my aunt's birthday and gave her an annual pass to DISNEY! She hasn't been to the Magic Kingdom in over 20 years, and I don't think she's ever been to Epcot or MGM or the Animal Kingdom. We're both so excited that I'm not sure we can wait two more months! Nanny has had to peel my aunt off of the ceiling on several occasions so I know it's going to be fun!



Last year we started a tradition for New Year's since we're both single with no prospects. We decided that we would do something fun rather than mope around the house at not having anyone to kiss at the stroke of midnight. (I know, kind of lame, but there it is...) Last year we went on the Murder Mystery Train Ride in Ft. Myers. (Way cool if you've never been!) This year I decided--What better way to have fun than to hang out with Mickey and of course, Pooh Bear!? We're going to see fireworks! (We're even going to Italy and France, since neither one of us is going to make to Europe anytime soon. This also saves on the language lessons we would have to take so she could speak Italian, and I could speak French.)



Otherwise, I've been trying to make it through the drudgery I call my job. I LOVE being a librarian, I just HATE where I'm located and the way our system is run. (That's a sure sign it's time to move on because I feel like I'm not being effective and I don't have a purpose.) I'm really hoping something comes along soon in the public sector, or I may quit and wait tables again to try and pay my bills. Truly--we've had 10 people quit teaching this year and it's only been 2 months! Of course, it's not just at our school, it's everywhere in this county. People are fed up with the increasing workload and no time to get it done.



You see, people seem to think that teachers have weekends off and summers off. I NEVER had a weekend off when I was in the classroom! (You can ask my parents--I was still living with them!) I spent 10 hours a day grading all of the papers I collected over the week because I didn't have time to grade them in the evenings after sitting in traffic for two hours to get home. During the summers, teachers have to go to all of the inservices and workshops and classes to gain credits to keep our teaching certificates. (Those people that think teaching is easy, need to come work in an inner-city school for a couple of months. Okay--I'm stepping off of my soapbox now.)



In any case, I've been in a job identity crisis because I don't know what to do now. Nothing seems to be available in the school system and in the public library system that would pay close to what I'm making now with my time in the system. I know this is God telling me to wait, but I'm truly going to need some major drugs if I have to keep working where I am now. So, I guess this is another prayer request--that I find God's will and purpose for my life--especially one that will pay the bills! :)