The Ups and Downs of a Rollercoaster

The Ups, Downs and Sudden Shocks of a Wooden Rollercoaster

Yesterday was quite the day. Nothing very formidable happened on the surface. Prayer Breakfast. They sang the song I loathe with an all consuming passion. (Walking and talking with my MIIIIIIND...SEEEEEETTTT on Jesus) No Amazing Grace to the tune of the Gilligan's Island Themesong. That borders on sacriligious.

I tried to get my oil changed, but Goodyear was backed up until Tuesday at 3:00. I'll drop my car off on the way back from St. Pauls and walk back to the Lighthouse. I can walk back after I close the shop. It's utterly convenient to live within a mile of all three major jobs, several favorite restaurants, church, and a used bookstore. Once the weather warms up again, I'll start walking more places.

I worked a full day, no teaching to break things up. Tessa and I priced the latest load at the front counter where it's warm. I put myself close enough to the heater to smell warm clothing particles all afternoon. Tessa is amazing. She is so smart, reads all the time, had all sorts of scholarships to colleges, graduated at 16, and was published several times as a teenager. Then a couple of bad decisions left her on welfare years later. She's about my age. We talked about what she'd do if she could do anything, and money and current situations weren't an object. She wants to go back to school for an English degree. She wants to go abroad for a while. I took my lunch break far later than usual to stay and talk.

I got two emails in a row, one with some bad news, and one with good. I am still grinning over Steve Pedersen showing back up after twenty years. That balanced out the other.

After work I had band practice for Sunday, and then went to Borders to buy a new Cloud and Townsend book that I've been coveting for a couple of weeks now. I'm not a big fan of the "Self-Help" genre, but my counselor in college recommended their "Boundaries" book. It took me a year and another recommendation to actually read it, but it was very good. The new one is good too.

And I'm back to work.

Blast from the Past

Blast from the Past

I had my second thoughts about being on myspace, but today it did what it was supposed to do. I got an email from someone in Southern California. A guy politely introduced himself, saying that he had a girlfriend named Rachel once. They were both in preschool together, and then he moved to California when they were seven. Before he left she drew a picture of him. Could that Rachel possibly be this Rachel. And it was.

I wrote back that I had been madly in love with him in Kindergarten and Preschool, and we must have watched the My Little Pony movie at his house a zillion times. He had a pogo stick, and one of those bouncy planet-with-a-ring balls that you could stand on. I had wondered off and on over the years what had ever become of him. From my memory, he was the nicest guy I've ever known.

I hope he writes back! He was my best friend.

Ledgering Again

Ledgering Again

The first month of accounting sucks. I spent two hours making sure everything balances out between last year and this year, and my purse broke, so I can't carry my spending log around. Basically everything was two weeks behind, and I had one transfer that didn't, luckily I didn't spend the same money twice, and was typical a few years ago when I only checked my bank account balance to see if "I had any money to spend." Usually not, but I spent anyway. So my first month's spending log is done, and my account is up to date, bills paid, and I'm all caught up with a little play money left over!

In a note of rejoicing, I paid off my move finally. I can't move again for a while. This was too expensive. I hope I can write it off.

I have more to write, more observations to make, and some general pithy comments, but I'm yawning my head off. Tomorrow is my long day, so I think I'll turn in very early for me.

Oh, and guess who sorted through 80 boxes of donations in a little over 2 hours? ME. That's who. I did a little dance with a peppy cheer after work when only Nancy and Sam were watching. "Who just sorted the whole d--n load. It's me! It's me!" Complete with choreography.

Oversleeping and underworking

Oversleeping and Underworking

I slept right through my alarm clock this morning. The night before last the sleeping pills (only 50mg) didn't work, and I was up from 2:30 to 5:30. So last night I took matters into my own hands and took two of them. Ahh, sleeping! (To forstall any comments about that, my doctor said that they regularly perscribe up to 250mg of this stuff, so I'm still safe) Nan called me at ten minutes past when I was supposed to open the shop for employees and I had to dash downstairs in my pajamas. Normally I don't go in until 12:30 on mondays, but today I'm supposed to be going in and working the morning shift to help sort the new load. Well, now I've waited so long I'm only going in an hour and a half early. Oh well, that still gives me time to run to Petco after work and get some catfood and litter.

5:30 Calzones practice, and then over to Sean and Kris' to watch both Kill Bills. I don't know if I'm ready for that level of violence, but we'll see.

My Theme Song

This Year's Theme Song

JIMMY EAT WORLD - Praise Chorus Lyrics

Are you gonna live your life wonderin' standing in the back
lookin' around?
Are you gonna waste your time thinkin' how you've grown up or
how you missed out?
Things are never gonna be the way you want.
Where's it gonna get you acting serious?
Things are never gonna be quite what you want.
Or even at 25, you gotta start sometime.
I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go.
Now all I need is just to hear a song I know.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine.
I wanna fall in love tonight.
Are you gonna live your life standing in the back looking
around?
Are you gonna waste your time?
Gotta make a move or you'll miss out.
Someone's gonna ask you what it's all about.
Stick around nostalgia won't let you down.
Someone's gonna ask you what it's all about.
Whatcha gonna have to say for yourself?
I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go.
Now all I need is just to hear a song I know.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine.
I wanna fall in love tonight.
Crimson and clover, over and over.
Crimson and clover, over and over.
Our house in the middle of the street, why did we ever meet?
Started my rock 'n roll fantasy.
Don't don't, don't let's start, why did we ever part?
Kick start my rock 'n rollen heart.
I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go.
So come on Davey, sing me somethin' that I know.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine.
I wanna fall in love tonight.
Here tonight.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine
I wanna fall in love tonight.

FINALLY

FINALLY!

Guess what I finally finished today!

Adventures in doing nothing, and how much I suck at it

Adventures in doing nothing, and how much I suck at it.

I did very well yesterday in the bed rest department. After teaching the two of my classes that didn't get cancelled, I went to the library, checked out half a dozen books, and came home. I read Orson Scott Card's Sarah yesterday in between naps, meandered into our common living room, and talked to Nancy for a while before downing my first sleeping pill.

Last night I slept from 12-6, 7-9, and had a nap after breakfast this morning from 11-1. I count that as an accomplishment, even if I did wake up once.

Today I went to Bible Study at 2, stopping at Metal Pro's house on the way to drop off a mic for his latest Metal Cobras of Death adventure. Denise and I read 10 chapters of Numbers today, and will be very glad to get out of the Pentateuch and onto the action adventure stuff. We feel we have a very good handle on sacrifices, less of a handle on levitical law, and no understanding of the juxtaposition of the moodiness-o-God vs. the whining of the Hebrews in Numbers. Of course, when you spread it out over 40 years it makes more sense than the editing process that makes events happen right on top of each other. Good that editing has finally entered into the picture. Moses was a redundant writer, and if someone had mentioned to him along the way that it would be perfectly within the realm of reason to combine what God said, Moses relating it, and the Israelites actually doing it into a single narration, the Bible would be a short novella. But the timeline is hard to follow post Red Sea.

Then I went to the branch library, hoping to use the last of my energy to find a couple more scholarships to research. I looked through an entire book of scholarships and found 4 for my trouble. If only I was a minority, or a high school senior, or had a legally disabled parent, I could get all the money I need. If I were all three I'd never had to work again. I could just stay in school indefinately. But as a post undergraduate, non-disadvantaged, and childless non-minority under the age of thirty five, I'm going to have to keep looking. And write a lot of essays.

Then I came home with an oven pizza, made that, and threw together some green been cassarole and fudge brownies while I waited for dinner. I'm going to take a nap after I print out a few application to put in the appropriate section of my file cabinet.

Two Major Developments

Two Major Developments

The first is, I'm finally being medically treated for insomnia. I haven't slept well since August, and now my doctor is going to try sleeping pills for a while. Last night I slept 6 hours before I woke up, and then another two, and I took a two hour nap after breakfast. Hopefully just sleeping through the night on a regular basis will aleviate some of the stress I've been under. Because we all know that none of us are capable of rational thought when exhausted.

In other news, I've applied for Grad School. No, I'm not going anywhere, it's an accredited online college. I've been looking at their program for two years, and they're offering a class again that I've really wanted to take. I've decided that I'm not going to pay any money out of pocket if I can help it, beyond my application fee, so I'll begin my first class when I win my first scholarship. I have my second one due on the 15th of February. I'm going to dual major, and my first class will be "C.S. Lewis, his writings and works." I've been looking at that class for ages, and the best part? I already have all of the required reading on my bookshelves. So no extra money there. And while, right now, I'm clearly in no shape to begin anything else, by being enrolled in their program I'm eligable for more scholarships than I would be otherwise. We'll see where this goes.

A Jonah Day

A Jonah Day

Today is my long day. I started with 7:30 prayer breakfast, then an hour of eBaying, then the store opened. I finished the third coat on the bathroom I've been working on painting mustard yellow. Then I went upstairs to grab three packages that needed to be shipped today. Someday we'll have everything set up so all I have to do is print out labels and the USPS person will pick them up from the store. But that's about three steps to go yet. Until all of our various accounts are verified, I have to do the legwork to the post office. Which I spent my lunch break doing, an ended up getting back to work 15 minutes late. Because I drove through Flukeys for a burger and pepsi. Because weight is melting off me still. I'm eating, but running around like a mad woman and another size or two is gone, meaning yet another search for jeans that are small enough. And I was finally settled in a 3/4.

On my way to the post office, I came downstairs and our register employee told me that she'd heard the rudest thing about me. Some lady came in and said, "It's cold in here." "Yes it is," Tessa replied. "It would be even colder if Rachel was here," Ms. Prunaprisma said. I didn't even know she didn't like me. And she's no charmer herself.

So the day went downhill from there. I've been on the verge of a nuclear meltdown all day.

And just before the work day was finally over, I went into the back to reorganize the kids clothing room. I'd pulled tons of adult clothing off the racks into a pile to be taken back into the store, and another pile of stained and ripped clothing to be baled. As I was behind another rack pulling infant clothes out of the big kids, a lady comes in, tromps all over the pile of clothes and announces that "this place is a mess. SOMEONE should come back here and clean it up.....um....do you work here?"

I'm going to bed.

Um

Bizy. Bakson.Lots of things happening right now. Quit one, since I no longer had time for it. But hopefully the next few evenings will be uneventful.