God's Mysterious Workings

Well ... I didn't get the job ... at least not immediately. The manager was super nice. She took over the Findlay store about 4 monts ago and, figuring she'd have to do some restaffing, just posted all of the positions in the store. She admits that she really needed to pull the ones off that weren't open ... but who appies to be a seamstress? ... right? ... So I am on the top of her list/pile. Which is good ... but not why I was sent there ... at least I don't think ...
She and her husband (an out-of-work youth pastor) moved here from Michigan when she took over the store. They can't find a church they like. They can't find any "quality young couples" (her words) to hang out with. Hmm ... I thought ... so I asked ... They're looking for something not super traditional, but not way out there either. Hmm ... we're growing a new community right now. She said that they've tried a couple of places, but they hate just being a face in a crowd. They want to be a part of a community ... they need people to live life with. (Cue the real reason why I'm here ...) So I tell her about Journey. She's kinda excited. I give her the website. She sends her husband to check it out ... hmm ... imagine that. Even she said that maybe it was a total God-thing that I came in ...
I thought about it afterwards ... but I'm thinking of going back and seeing if she and her husband would like to hang out and have dinner with Tyler and myself ...
I love getting to visibly see and be a part of God's plan. Thanks God. I needed that pick-me-up yesterday ... even if I was bummed that I didn't come home with a job ... I came home with something more ...

Interview

I have an interview on Monday afternoon ... where I was talking about earlier (see 2 posts ago). Hopefully that'll pan out. The manager there seems really nice and sounds like she's about my age. She was definately glad to hear from me and really wanted to get me in soon. Now ... what to wear? ... I know ... It sounds like a chick-question. But here's the thing ... it's a kind of trendy shop. I'm not really trendy ... so do I try to wear something as trendy as I can? Or do I wear my suit like I would to any other interview? What about just slacks and a blouse? ... See, I just don't know ... hmm ...

Here's hoping you all had wonderful turkey days! I know we did - after our power came back on :P ...

Now the official countdown to Christmas can begin. Number of days left: too few! Don't count on me for your count down. ...

Alright ... back to work. I have a lot of projects that need to be finished by Tuesday. That ... and there's college football on tonight.

Turkey and the Like ...

go eat some ...

Seriously ...

It's Thanksgiving ...

Have a happy day!

(and PLEASE be safe out there)

Another Shot

Oh, let the world crash love can take it
Oh, let the world come crashing down
Oh, let the world crash love can take it
Love can take a little, love can give a little more

Ahh ... Skillet ... I am such a panhead ... what great lyrics.

So I applied for another job. This one is as a seamstress in the mall. I could totally do that. I was listing my available hours and came up with 43 ... yeah ... and that's all outside of the hours that I'm currently working. Sweetness. So they want to set up an interview. I'm supposed to call and speak with the manager. Calling on Friday ... well now ... that doesn't feel really intelligent. But I don't want to leave it forever either ... hmm ... maybe I'll try in the afternoon sometime during a probable lull. Hmm ...

Okay ... dinner was good. House still needs floors cleaned. Grammas pants are still in need of a hem. But the dishwasher is running ... that's a start.

Happy Day Before Turkey Day!

So ... craziness has taken over my life. I shall start with last Thursday.

I went to work as usual after school as "Nanny Rachel" (that's what the girl has chosen to call me ... so I just go with it ... ). And discovered that it was my last day. Sad. But the kids' dad wanted more time with them, so he was going to take them on the days that I had them. I was bummed. But they deserve to have time with their dad ... and he with them. So I was happy about that. Then Tyler got the "Thank you for your interest in our company" letter from American Family. So that was a bummer ... Thursday wasn't fabulous. However, we went to small group that night and lots of good came from it. I know it really helped Tyler. And that's a good thing.

Friday we took off around 3:30 for Columbus. We went down for The Game. Awesome atmosphere. We could have watched it with our church at home ... but there's nothing like Columbus on the day of The Game. Amazing. We took off for campus early on Saturday. ESPNs College Gameday was broadcasting from OSU, so we went to check it out. Wonderful. Way fun. Stupid Corso picked the "Other Team" to win though. He was boo-ed for a really long time. It's okay though ... he picked Texas and Iowa over OSU ... wrong about those ... wrong about this. Wonderful game. :)

Sunday we came home. I was supposed to work at the church on Sunday night ... but I definately got sick at like 5:30 ... like all over the bathroom/barely made it to the toilet sick. So even though it was super short notice and I felt awful about it, I knew I had no business babysitting. So I had to call and cancel. Then I called mom to find out if she'd been feeling okay. (We had the same thing for dinner the night before and again for lunch that day.) No ... she wasn't doing so hot either. That's like 3 times this year that we've gotten sick like that ... so perhaps we shouldn't eat the same thing out ... hmmm ...

Monday I had to work, but wanted to get some work done around the house and also on the vests for the community theatre. I did just that. I now have all of the vests finished. The house is mostly clean (I need to do the floors tonight and clean the bathroom up tomorrow morning). I just have to sew on 10 more buttons and all 8 of the vests will be finished. I can turn them and all of my receipts in on Sunday night. Woo-hoo! I feel kinda bad that it took me this long ... but I've only taken 6 weeks ... and I've had other things to do too ... and each one takes me about 5 hours to complete. That's a lot of work ... that's like 40 hours of work on top of everything else. Also on Monday a woman who I've done a lot of seamstress stuff for called and asked me to shorten some sleeves on a jacket for her to wear on Thanksgiving. I told her I would. She came by yesterday with the jacket. I maybe spent 15 minutes on it ... MAYBE ... She picked it up today. I told her $12 ... but she wrote her check for $24. SWEET! I would have charged her a rush fee, but I didn't tell her about it on the phone on Monday. So I kinda felt like I couldn't charge extra for that ... but it looks like she felt bad about it being last minute. Cool with me.

Yesterday I got my nanny job back. Something came up and the kids' dad can't take them like he wanted to ... so I'm back on. Yay!!!!! Today I spent the whole day practically with the girl. She wants to make like a bookbag thing and has had the pattern for quite some time. Today we went shopping for all of the supplies (fabric, etc) and spent a couple of hours and I taught her how to lay it out and pin and cut. We'll work out some day soon that we can spend sewing.

Okay ... I need to make something for dinner. Tyler and I are both getting hungry. I also need to get busy on the next sewing project on my list. Gramma asked me to hem some pants for her and I promised them to her by Thanksgiving. So I shall take them with us tomorrow when we go have Turkey Day with her.

Happy Turkey Day in t-minus 7 ish hours!

What I Have to Say

Here is what I have to say. I LOVE Gilmore Girls. Now, I know that it's just a t.v. show ... but I have a complaint here ... Lorelai and Christopher should NOT have gotten married in Paris. Period. Now ... that being said ... I have some other comments. How fabulous was all the stuff with Mrs. Kim, Lane, and Zach? Amazing! They're having twins ... he wants to name them "Marco" and "Polo" ... FABULOUS!!!!! (And I will stand firm on the fact that we will NEVER name our kids that ... no matter what Tyler says!) I love Gilmore Girls. At the end they previewed for the season ... there was definitely a scene between Christopher and Luke. They were walking towards each other looking for a fight. And I say "Heck Yeah!" Luke will kick Christopher's tooshie! By the way ... what's up with Marty pretending that he's never met Rory? Totally weird.

Okay ... so Tyler and I have made trips to Delaware for Gammy two days in a row now. I'm tired of going down there ... I know that we're helping her ... and Dad ... but grr ... Oh well ... As far as I can tell, we're not heading down there for a while now.

THE Big Game is Saturday. OSU is gonna kick tooshie. More on that later. Now time for a late night nackie.

Christmas Prep ... HELP!

So I've decided that I'm going to give my mom this lovely scarf that I've been crocheting for Christmas. Now, I learned how to crochet when I was much younger. My gramma used to knit and crochet and she taught me. However, I hadn't done it in so long that I'd forgotten how to. I went to a ladies craft night sort of thing at the church a while ago and there received a nice refresher course. Since then, I've made the scarf about as long as I'm going to ... and I've figured out what kind of tassels I'll be putting on it. (Not my choice to add tassles ... I'm not really into them ... but I know that my mom is.) However, the scarf remains attached to my crochet hook. Why, you ask? Because I did not receive a refresher in how to cast-off and finish the thing. I know ... you're thinking, "Why don't you just take it to you gramma and have her show you?" Not gonna happen. She doesn't like to explain ... she likes to just do for you ... and her arthritis is so bad that I know she hasn't knitted or crocheted in years. I don't want her to feel like she has to show me ... That, and I'm not 100% positive that she won't also be getting a nice handmade crocheted scarf for Christmas as well. So, anyone who reads this (and I have no idea if anyone really does) who can crochet ... would you please tell me how to finish off the scarf? Please. I really need to be moving on this ...
Thanks! :)
Have a wonderful day. And thank you for reading through my current rant on Christmas prep.

I Can Share

I learned in Kindergarten to share ... and that I did ... sorry I got you so sick hon! Poor Tyler's been laid up for the last several days ... :(

So Wednesday we had dinner with my Gammy (dad's mom) in Columbus. It was her 87th birthday. Wow ... she's really getting up there ... I'll see her again on Monday when I head down to Delaware for an appointment.

So here's the real reason I felt like posting ... I got a job! I'm a lunch monitor at a middle school in town. I work from 10:45-1:15 Monday - Friday. That still lets me do most of what I was before. I have to quit the one cleaning job ... but I wasn't a huge fan of her anyways. And I have to quit my morning Bible study. It's on Thursdays ... but again ... I wasn't really committed to it ...

The point is that I have a J-O-B!!!!!

Yay ... :)

Just when I finally feel like I've got it together again ...

I get sick.

So Tyler and I had to make a trip to Columbus this weekend. We left Friday afternoon - with the intention of returning to Findlay on Saturday afternoon, in plenty of time to go to Five02. Now, that didn't happen. Grr. Why didn't it happen? Because Friday night I got sick. So we stayed Saturday night and came home this afternoon. And that was a bit rough. I feel like I've been hit with a ton of bricks today ... and I've improved. Oh well ... at least all we intended to do in Columbus is finished. (We had our headlight changed - still under warrenty. We helped Mom grade papers - for like 12-14 hours worth of work. We stopped in Delaware and took care of some business with Gammy.)

Now it's off to laundry. I have to get through this tonight. I always forget why I don't let the laundry go for two weeks till I have to do it after it has been two weeks. :P Thank heavens for my wonderful husband who's helping me tonight. I don't deserve him sometimes. :)

Happy Halloween ... 3ish Hours Early

Here ... read ...

Think of a Jack'o'latern.

Going and picking out the right one...
Cleaning it off...

And think of all the work that goes into carving it.

Cutting off the top at the thickest part...
cleaning all the icky stuff out...
putting a pretty face or design on it...
all that time that goes into it...
then when you're done and its perfect by your standards...
you put candle/light in it and it just glows....

Now think of this another way.

God picks out a pumpkin, one that is perfect one that represent you...
He takes it home, and cleans it, makes it bright and smooth.
He then takes and cuts off our tops, taking away our egos and exposing our insides...
inside is our 'yuckyness'...he scoops out all the gross stuff, our unhappiness, our hurts, everything to make us clean inside as well as outside.
He takes his time to carve just the right thing, the right face into each and gives us a new face...
he then places his light into us, each of us to shed his light to the world, and illuminate the world...

(Thanks Courtney)

(P.S. Yes ... the retreat rocked my face off. Yes ... I will write about it very soon. Yes ... I'm still debreifing.)

Lessons from the Blogosphere

So I really needed to hear this today. Perhaps some of you will too ... (and thanks to Miss SarahCool for posting it on her blog today)

Do It Anyway
by Roy Lessin

Others may not notice your efforts or give you recognition for something you've done. The credit may even go to someone else.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I am pleased by your service and will honor your obedience.

There may be times when a job you've done will be rejected. Something you have prepared may be canceled or delayed.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I see all things and will bless the work of your hands.

You may do your very best, and yet fail. You may sacrifice time and money to help someone and receive no word of thanks.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I am your reward and will repay you.

There may be times when you go out of your way to include others and later have them ignore you. You may be loyal on your job, and yet someone else is promoted ahead of you.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I will not fail you or make you be ashamed.

You may forgive others, only to have them hurt you again. You may reach out in kindness, only to have someone use you.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I know your heart and will comfort you.

You may speak the truth but be considered wrong by others. You may do something with good intentions and be completely misunderstood.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I understand and will not disappoint you.

There may be times when keeping your word means giving up something you want to do. There may be times when commitment means sacrificing personal pleasure.
Do it anyway, as unto Me,
for I am your Friend, and will bless you with My Presence.

Finally Home ...

... till Thursday afternoon ...

So this weekend was cool. My mom and I went down to the Mingus Pumpkin festival in Cincy on Saturday. I thought I'd be in a meeting on Saturday (also in Cincy), so it was a real treat to get to spend some time with my mom. Emotionally, I really needed that. There were lots of good crafties there to look at. I don't think I've ever seen so many vendors at one festival. I also got a lot of good gift ideas as well as ideas of things I could make rather cheaply and then sell too. So the fall leaves were in full bloom this past weekend. And it was B-E-A-UTIFUL down there. The air was cool and crisp. The sun was shining. Wonderful day. And the best view of it all ... from the plane ride that mom and I took. It was far too short ... only about 10 mins. But we got a view of the whole area/county. It was sooooooooo much fun too! Just me and mom in the back seat of the little plane and the pilot in the front. He was nice too.

That's about it for highlights of the weekend. Not much can top the day at the festival. Mom and I had some good time on Sunday just being. Too often people forget how important it is to just be. Take some time today for yourself to do that ...

Okay ... laundry's calling ... It's really cold here today. I think it's about 60 degrees in our appartment. Last year we made it till Thanksgiving without the heat. But it seems colder this year. And as I look outside ... it's snowing ...

Weekend Traveling ...

... really stinks when your weekly worship gathering is on Saturday nights. I haven't been home on a Saturday night since September. I miss it. It stinks. I won't be home again next weekend either. But that'll be for a super sweet reason.

So I'm leading a retreat for high school girls in Cincy next weekend. I'm kinda getting a little nervous about it. My talk prep/practice is going well. But ... there are still spots where it seems a bit ... umm ... schizophrenic ... yeah ... that's a good word for it. Also on the subject - I have NO clue how many people read this ... but I apparently need to see the movie Mean Girls before this coming weekend. I leave on Thursday afternoon. (Also on the Cincy front - I could use somewhere to sleep on Thursday night.)

Okay ... I'm tired. I'm headed to bed. Although, I forgot to pack my jammies and toothbrush when I left home yesterday morning. It's a good thing my husband has some extra clothing at my mom's house.

Happy Birthday Tyler! I love you. I'm glad you had a good day at Fall Gathering. I'll see you tomorrow night when you get back to Ohio. Travel safely please.

WOO HOO

WOO Freaking HOO!!!!!!!!
(please excuse the language)

AMY MICHELE PASSED THE TENNESSEE BAR EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's an official lawyer now!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!

A-typical Kind of Girl

So I've never really fit into the "girl mold" ... and I've (almost) always been okay with that. I was reminded of this fact earlier today. (Yes, earlier. Tyler works at 7 ... I'm up then too.)

Iwo Jima. World War II. There's a new movie out - Flags of Our Fathers. Wow ... I want to see that ... so bad. I rarely say that. There are several movies that I'd like to see. But it's rare to think that I WANT to see something. I thought that when We Were Soldiers came out. I thought that when Black Hawk Down came out. I thought that when Saving Private Ryan came out.

And so I was reminded today that I'm really into war movies. And most "girls" aren't. And I'm good with that.

My Apologies

I haven't been online much. I'm sorry about not updating.

So what's new? ... I've been doing a lot of thinking. Ryan's blog touches on some of it (today's writing - which is acctually Tuesday the 10th ... dunno what's up with the date being weird ...). I commented. But that's just the surface.

In the midst of all of this thinking, I've discovered that somewhere along the way (and just in the last couple of weeks) I've become an emotional wreck. Yesterday's emotional mess I just attributed to my exhaustion. (We were at the Apple Butter Festival in Salem, WV with Tyler's mom on Saturday. It's about 6 hours from here. Jet set weekends usually take it out of people.) However, today the mess remains. I slept well. I'm not feeling really great. But I'm not tired anymore. I've also lost a large chunk of my desire to socialize. I've ignored at least 5 phone calls today. Yesterday I didn't want to go somewhere. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time once I was there. I know I was helpful. I just didn't want to be there. I don't really want to work around here either. I look at the stuff that needs done and just feel overwhelmed. I've never been this intimidated by so little work. I keep trying to tell myself that I can do it all ... really it's just light cleaning ... but that doesn't seem to work ... grr ... Eventually I shall snap out of this mess in which I sit.

More things to think about ... I'm leading that retreat in 3 weeks. I'm super looking forward to it ... but I need to nail down the talk I'm supposed to give. I must say ... when Derek (It's his youth group ... I'm taking the girls for the weekend.) and I originally set the schedule, I thought the talks were like 15-20 mins ... NOPE ... I'm supposed to go for 40. That's intimidating for me. And so, because I'm short on material with which to fill that time, I'm extending an invitation to you all - my faithful readers. It's a He-Man/She-Ra retreat. I'm talking about how we must be enough in ourselves and in God. For only He can fill the void. Society, friends, boys, commercialism, etc. preach the need for things and that we can never really be enough. My title is "Enough Already!" ... so far ... I'm short. Thoughts on being a woman of God ... These are high school girls. The rest of the weekend they'll be hearing talks on sex and what's really going on in a guy's head. There's also going to be a dedication time for them ... Another note here - I'm giving my talk at like 8 am on Saturday morning. So I want to dive in ... but I don't want to loose anyone because it's too early ... Seriously - help me here ...

One yay moment before I go ... my shirt is a size smaller than I could wear last winter. It looks pretty good on me too ... :)

Gilmore Girls Party

Okay ... here's the skinny ... I love Gilmore Girls. I completely blame Caryn for this. Tyler blames me for getting him hooked. Regardless of blame ... the season premier is upon us.

Gilmore Girls' season premier is on the new CW on Tuesday, September 26th at 8 pm. So, to honor the 7th season, we're having a party! It will be Gilmore all the way (minus the martinis ... those are pricey and we're poor :P). We'll start at 8 with a showing of Partings (the season finale from season 6) and then follow with a commercial free showing of The Long Morrow (season 7 premier).

We're going adult only on this soiree. Gilmore Girls is hardly appropriate for kids ... and we're probably going to have "adult beverages" of some kind. (BYOAB ... and make it Gilmore appropriate :P) There will be plenty of coffee! :)

It's open to all ... just let us know if you're joining us for the festivities here. Some food will be provided, but more is always welcome (again, Gilmore is the theme). We'll get you directions if you don't know how to get here. :)

(A note here ... I'm feeling compelled to mention that we don't typically have or publicize parties with "adult beverages" ... but this is a special occaison ... and it goes with the theme.)

A Few Noteworthy Notes

just some randomness tonight ... some things are new ... some I meant to put in a misc. section at the end of my last one ...

First and foremost: something very very very exciting ... I am linked on someone's blog :) (and yes dear, you do count ... but I expect to be linked on your blog :P)

Second: We've had friends over twice this weekend (if you count Monday night, which we do ... football is on ... that counts for part of the weekend). It's been really nice to have people over. I enjoy entertaining, even just casually, and even just for friends who we've known for what seems like forever.

Third: Apparently, my seamstress work for friends is beginning to pay off. I had someone just call me out of the blue, apparently just from a referral, and she is coming over tomorrow morning. That's some income.

Fourth: I've had an offer to work as a babysitter for the church's Children's Director's youngest boy. Dave needs someone to watch Henry during the staff meetings and Sunday night stuff. It's like 3.5 hours/week. But again, it's income.

Fifth: My tooshie still hurts. It's getting better ... but still sore ...

Sixth: All laundry and ironing is finished! That makes me happy. I hate ironing.

Seventh: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arr ...

Eighth: I seem to have more notes than I originally thought ... sorry I'm so unexpectedly long tonight ...

and finally...

Nineth: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. (It's a grammatically valid sentence. Don't believe me? Here.)

Hallowed

"... hallowed be Thy name."
That's kind of a loaded line if you ask me. Yet it was the topic of tonight's five02 gathering. So the meat of the talking? ... "hallowed". What's that mean to you? When posed that question I immediately went to "holy, pure, clean" ... those signs (as in sign language) are all very similar. As a matter of fact, they are the same motion and hand position, just different letters being formed with one hand. We played the song from the City On A Hill cd ... Jennifer Knapp, her version of the Lord's Prayer ... she repeats 'hallowed' between most lines of the prayer ... very fitting.

So Ryan made a statement that really got me thinking and hit home with a lot of what's been going on in my world recently. He said that we know God's will and action on earth and in others because we know what it looks and feels like in our own hearts. It's like we know God's fingerprints because we have them on us, so we can identify them on others and in situations. So when someone is unaware of God's fingerprints on himself, does that make him unable to feel and see God at work in something? Is there some sort of responsibility we have to him, as Christians and ones who see God's fingerprints all over the place, to show him that God is there? Are we to just pray? Is there something DOable? Is that our job? Is that God's job? Please, let me know what you think. I've been pondering this for a while now ... not sure how my answers are sitting with me ...

yep ... still hurts ...

That's pretty much it ... It was really hard to sleep last night. My right hip (the one that I didn't hit on the way down) kept getting sore. I couldn't lay on my back or my left hip without seriously intense pain. I think I was able to sleep for about 3 hours ... most of that on my tummy ... which, frankly, is more suited to napping - not acctually sleeping ...

ah well ... I guess that's what I get for falling down the stairs ... :P