Things are heating up around here. It's time for another case of "God's amazing sense of humor" to strike. My father has until the 15th of July to tell the Yakima school district if he will be coming back to work for them (he can afford to live there, but there's nothing he really wants to do). A few days ago, 4 other job offers opened up all over California. The Christian Academy is interviewing him tonight for a 4th grade position. The local school districts are trying to pull together one full time position between the four of them, and they'll let him know tomorrow. A school district in Southern California is letting him know in the next couple of days what job he has, and another in northern california. The problem is that all of these jobs don't pay enough for him to afford to buy a house (Ken is selling their house and reposessing their car) even if he and mom both work full time next year. It seems to me that some amazing offer is going to come in on the 15th that will allow them to afford to live, but not mean moving back to Yakima. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part -- but isn't it just like Him to send in something amazing at the last minute? My dad is just sitting back and waiting for "door to open or close" as he always does. He's such a wise man -- I'll never be half as good as he is. I wish I could sit back and wait -- I tend to ask for direction, and then dash about pell mell. How does one "wait for God" anyway? As I said before, I gave my life over, but he isn't directing (that I can see -- which of course is limited). I feel like my life is in limbo -- like, God is waiting for me to stop running in circles and run toward him instead. But this isn't about me, it's about my father. (Both of them .. ha ha) Any of you who pray -- please pray for my family if you think of it. It's getting tense around here. Mother doesn't want to move. She hates the cold, and the winter, and the lack of sun. There must be a happy medium that doesn't involve my father either in a job he hates for the next 12 years, or both of them working like dogs to live. We'll know in 4 days. Yikes

We were opening boxes in the store today, and I came across three yards of five inch wide silk satin ribbon. They just don't make that quality of silk anymore -- no one could afford to buy it. I wanted to buy it off Lynne, but she won't sell it to me. Darn it! It's amazing...very old too.

I have created a monster. What on earth am I going to do with this one. Juan has decided that I am the most wonderful person in the world. he calls 5 times a day -- even when he knows I'm at work. He leaves messages on my maching "Hi--I miss you, just wanted to hear your voice. Bye Sweetie. Redhead. Angel." He comes up and pinches my cheek at work, and tries to get all mushy -- which; at work? The last thing I want is to become the object of speculation for the entire Alisal staff. They're the biggest group of gossips ever. I can understand being this mushy if, say, we had dated for ages, and perhaps were engaged. But THREE DATES?! He doesn't even read. One can't carry on an intellectual conversation with him at all. Our entire conversation when we go out consists of him telling me how much he's going to miss me. We walked around town and he kept trying to hold my hand, or touch my hair, or kiss my cheek. He took me to a bookstore, and made no pretence of actually being interested in them. He just wanted to follow me around an breathe down my neck. He won't ever see me again after another couple of weeks. He doesn't even KNOW me. He doesn't know what I like, or dislike, or what I read, or what kind of movies I like, or anything. I don't think he's a Christian (a TOP priority...should have asked him BEFORE I went out, but how does one bring that up in casual conversation?) And to compound the issue, I'm going out with Jeremy tonight (he, by the way, is a Christian). He asked me out the same night Juan did, but our schedules didn't match up until now. This has gotten too complicated. Now what am I supposed to do with this.

Valley of Humiliation, part II. Today is my day off -- from both jobs amazingly enough. I decided to spend a leisurly morning, sleeping in a bit, doing some reading (Moll Flanders is on her 13th lover, no sign of repentance yet....). I heard the door to the outbuilding open, and assuming it was my sister, rolled over to see. There were two strangers standing there. Turns out today was open house day, and someone forgot to tell Rachel. So I go dashing out in my pajamas, yelling at the realtor to have them come back because I'm leaving. Then I ran through the house, passing by more shocked realtors (in my pajamas no less), got in my car and drove off with no idea of what to do with myself -- in my jammies, my glasses on, my face unwashed, and a great case of morning breath. One of my lovelier moments I'm sure. I tracked down my mother buying pepsi at the local store. She laughed fit to kill, and everywhere we went to kill time she made a grand announcement. The only good thing is that I have about 6 changes of clothes in my car from having to change for my second job....mom can't complain about my being a slob anymore. It came in very handy for once!

Quote for the day: "Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him." ~Oswald Chambers

I had the absolute worst day at work today. We didn't have many people at the dining room because there was a Lake BBQ. I only had 5 tables. I walked in with 6 glasses on a tray, set down two, and then proceeded to dump the remaining 4 all over me, the floor, and the lady in the table I had just served. I got a pepsi down my right arm, a shirley temple down my front, an alisal special down my back, and the dregs of a chardoney in my hair and the woman's back. A guy at another table was kind enough to offer to help. Then he ran back to his table shouting "Dude! I saw the whole thing!" The rest of the tables all evening kept yelling "duck" as I walked past, and the bartender kept asking with every order if I wanted that in a cup with a lid. And I had to walk around all evening smelling like a brewery. blech. I'm going to go wash my hair. I'm sure this will be very funny tomorrow.

Reserved women should not date Latino men. Enough said. And "I love you" should not immediatly follow the third date.

Wow, I haven't updated in ages. Side comment, Teri, for someone who gripes enough on her own blog about no one leaving comments, you sure don't return the favor! Anyway, still working like a dog. Today we sold a thousand dollar buffet table. Out of the "other room" (aka, the room where everything goes that doesn't fit in the main room. aka -- the junk room) There's lots of old irons, and horse shoes, and old camaras, and lots of dishes. So since Larissa and I got to move it out (other side note -- very hard for two girls in backless heels to move a buffet), we decided to rearrange the room. My employer's mode of decorating can be summed up into; more! Everything that she is selling is displayed somewhere, to the effect that it's too overwhelming to actually see anything. So we're fixing it. Lynn never goes into the "other room." Since she can't see it, she won't know we're rearranging. Eventually, when those lazy people actually move their vanity set out of there, we're going to rearrange it into a parlor and a kitchen. Or maybe a country store and a living room. Something that says "Yes, you too can have a house like this -- and its all for sale!" rather than "Oh look. Stuff." I'm betting that once it's displayed beautifully, it'll all sell better. We shall see. Lynn is the third generation dealer -- so likely I'm just being cocky. I had a vision though. If I were to own a shop like that, I would arrange it like a house. Parlor, bedroom, kitchen, etc. You could display stuff in cabinets and still make it look like a private collection. That's the idea. Maybe for my next career. Anyway, we took all the random dished off the shelves, grouped them by type and color, and displayed them decoratively. Then we took an old loveseat and set it up with a sidetable to look like a tea party. Then Larissa put all of the cooking stuff into the stove. Its the best we can do until the bedroom set moves out. Tomorrow maybe!

I found what must be the only Grackle in the state of California. I went outside to eat lunch, and this hideous (as all you current Texans out there know) bird with a tail too long for its body comes hopping up next to me. "Are you LOST?" said I. "GRACK," said the grackle. "Are you hungry?" "GRACK" "Would you like a french fry?" "GRACK" So the obviously out of place grackle hopped over and took my french fry, calmly cut it into three pieces, managed to fit all three sideways in his beak, made one more gurgling "GRACK" through a mouthfull, and then flew off looking very proud of himself. The other birds who were keeping a proper distance swore at him as he flew away.

I'm reading Oswald Chambers right now. Ouch....hitting a little to close to home. Today was about fretting. He says that the only time we fret is when we take ourselves out of God's control and start planning our lives without His consideration. Also he says we work ourselves into a corner by allowing ourselves the luxury of thinking that our little sins are too much for God to handle...that he can't take it out of our lives it we let it. So we continue to wallow in them complacently, thinking that even God can't do anything about it. All of you should get this book -- My utmost for his highest -- Oswald Chambers. Aaron, get your copies back! Teri, I'm sure you have it somewhere....