Quote(s) of the Week

At job #1:

Daisy:  I like your earrings, Ms. Gayle!
Me:  Thank you!
Christopher:  Don't ever by cheap earrings, 'cause my sister bought cheap earrings and she got an infection in her ear.  (Short pause)  Are those cheap earrings?
Three quizzical faces turn in anticipation of my response.
Me, taking a moment to determine how I can spin the truth that they are, indeed, cheap earrings, but not wanting to admit it to 3 seven-yr-olds:  Well . . . they're from England!
Three incredulous faces turn towards each other and exclaim, almost in unison:  WOW!  Ms. Gayle is soooo cool!



At job #2:

Karli:  Ms. Deborah--wait, is it Ms. or Mrs.?
Me:  It's Ms.
Karli, a bit bewildered:  Wait.  You're not married???
Me:  Nope.
Karli, completely astonished:  Buy, WHY???  You're soooo pretty!





Moments like these remind me how much I love my jobs!

I was 10 minutes late to work this morning . . .

. . . because of this amazing interview:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

First, watch the video and then come back and let's talk about how amazing it is!








Did ya watch it? Can you believe it???
What amazing faith does that man have! He waited on the Lord, heard His voice, and went out and found the girl who was LOST in the swamp for FOUR DAYS! Not only was that man's faith strong enough to believe God would lead him to Nadia, his faith held out despite the odds -- even though dozens of professionals had been searching for four, going on five days; even though there were doubts she was even still alive; even though it took him 2 hours of searching before he heard her response to his calls. His faith didn't waiver and God used him to show the world that His sheep hear His voice and that miracles still happen today!

Hearing this story reminds me of I Corinthians 1:18 & 28:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . . . . God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

What's more foolish to our society today than someone claiming that God told him where to go? And what's more weak than one man on his own accomplishing what dozens and dozens of others were incapable of?

All things really are possible through Christ.

Night Night . . .

Ok, I need sleep. I'd love to stay up reading all night, but I'm fading fast. I'll keep reading until I drift off to sleep, but I just wanted to post an official end of read-a-thon post 'cause I'll prob fall asleep soon!

I'll report back tomorrow with what I read these final hours and how much total reading I got done. Although it wasn't as much as I would've liked, it was definitely more than I would have otherwise read. So that's an accomplishment, eh?

Good night, all. Happy reading to those of you still going at it -- y'all are rockstars!

FINALLY!!!

Good grief, can't believe that took nearly all day!!! But I definitely have the sense of accomplishment I always feel when I finish a book.

I began reading Lewis Carroll's tales of Alice's adventures over six months ago and picked it up here and there from time to time. The main reason I decided to finally read it is because it's probably the only major work of literature the bf had read and I had not. To be honest, I was not too concerned with reading it before because the Disney movie kind of freaked me out when I was a kid! So, no way was I going to willing read that thing!!! And the reason I was dragging my feet with finishing it is because after reading my friend Amy's tumblr post I realized Carroll just may have possibly had pedo tendencies! So every reference to Carroll's fondness for children, esp little girls, made me cringe. And how are people not more freaked out that he wrote these stories because of his obsession with a 7-year-old he was not directly related to?? And how do all these parents let their children go off with him and allow him to photograph them??? I don't know . . . perhaps the world was a different place back then . . .

Anywho, I did enjoy all the banter towards the end of the book. For example,

Here the Red Queen began again, Can you answer useful questions?" she said. "How is bread made?"

I know that!" Alice cried eagerly. "You take some flour--"

"Where do you pick the flower?" the White Queen asked. In a garden or in the hedges?"

"Well, it isn't picked at all," Alice explained: "it's ground--"

"How many acres of ground?" said the White Queen. "You mustn't leave out so many things."

Poor Alice!

Ok, onward I go. I need a break from the children's literature . . . I'm thinking I'll read a bit of Your Jesus Is Too Safe by Jared C. Wilson. I bought it back in July and have been picking at ever since (minus the 3 months I was out of the country, that is). I prob won't finish it tonight 'cause I need time to digest nonfiction. But I'll let you know how it goes!

Break #2

I braved the pollen and ventured outside in the sun to read a bit.

My snack of choice for this round:

Yup, water and left over Easter malt eggs! Yum!!!

I was only out there about an hour and 15 min and managed to read 30 pages. I would've kept on reading but it's time to Skype w/ the bf (he doesn't have a comp, so our online "dates" are far and few between). I'll hit the books again as soon as we finish, and I'm thinking I can totally stay up later than midnight reading -- at least til 2 if not later. Late at night is when I get most of my reading done anyway, so I should knock a lot of pages out in the wee small hours of the morning.

Ok, I'll update when I'm back at it! Thanks so much for all the encouragement so far!!!

******

Update: 8:35 p.m.

Holy cow! How the heck is it already so late???? We experienced some technical difficulties, so I just now finished my Skype date and am ready to dive back in. I have the popcorn and Pepsi One ready to get me through this next leg, so here it goes!

Break #1

I've been "reading" for about 2 hours, although I use that term lightly seeing as how I had many distractions and interruptions the first hour (phone calls, noisy yard work outside, an uncooperative camera, a daydreaming mind, etc). So I only got about 45 pages read and have about 60 more to go before finishing Through The Looking Glass.

It's not a difficult read, but I keep flipping back and forth from the text to the notes in the back, back to the text and then to the beginning diagram of the chessboard (which makes NO sense to me since I'm NOT a chess person) and back to the text. Stupid editor's notes and stupid English major habits that make it feel like it's a sin not to read the editor's notes! Thankfully, I still have some cherry limeade left to keep me going, even though all the crushed ice has sadly melted away . . .

Ok, off to check a few blogs and harvest my grapes on Farmville (yeah, I'm addicted to that as well!). I'll get back to reading soon . . .

Update: 4:10 p.m.

Well, I started reading again at 3:40, but then my grandma called 5 min later, so now I'm just barely getting back to it! Yikes! I was hoping to be on book #2 by now! Oh well, I guess that's life, eh?

Update: 4:15 p.m.

OK, as soon as I clicked Publish Post the house alarm low-battery indicator started going off and I had to run down to turn it off. Seriously? Am I ever going to finish this book??? Lol!

Ready . . . Set . . . GO!!!

Ok, just got home from work and am finishing lunch while I jump into Through The Looking Glass. I'll see ya in a few hours . . .

Let's Get Reading!

HELLO OUT THERE!

So, I finally decided to brush off the dust and clean up the cobwebs of my blog and figured participating in this read-a-thon is just the thing to help me do it! This way, I'm forced to update, if just for 24 hours.

I only just found out about the event through a link my virtual friend Leann posted on FB. I clicked over and decided I'd like to participate in the festivities, and 24 hours later, here I am! I have no game plan (i.e. what hours I'll be reading, how many breaks I'll take, what snacks I'll consume, etc), and I have no strategy for reading. I don't even know how many hours of the 24 I'll actually be participating in! All I know is that I spend waaaayyyyyy too much time on FB or watching TV during my down time and far too little time reading. Hopefully this will steer me back to reading a bit more than I have been.

So, without further ado, here's my stack of books:



From top to bottom:
*Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

*A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'engle

*Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

*The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner

*Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

*Your Jesus Is Too Safe by Jared Wilson

*Dollar Store Crossword and Sudoku puzzles for breaks

*Blink Of An Eye by Ted Dekker

Not photographed is my Bible, which I'll read a little of as well. And I have other books that may replace some of the ones listed above. I've read Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, which is half of the above book, but haven't finished Through The Looking Glass. I'm fairly confident I'll finish that one at least. Not sure about the others . . .

No, I won't read ALL of these books, but I know how I am and if I get bored of one book I wanted to have plenty of options of what to read next.

I work from 9:30-11:30, so won't be able to start seriously reading til after noon, central time. I'll update regularly and be sure to keep track of just how long I read and how many pages. I'll also post about the individual books I'm reading and perhaps include fav quotes . . . or not . . . it depends how the day shapes up! I have tentative plans to meet up with some friends at Miller Outdoor Theatre to see Cats, but that hasn't been confirmed. If so, then I'll only be reading 'til 6:30. If not, I hope to keep it up 'til midnight at least.

Alrighty then, guess it's time to get ready for tomorrow! Hope to see ya then!

Still Waiting

Exactly two months ago I mentioned that I was trying to apply for teaching positions in the UK and also for a separate visitor's visa to go back for a short visit before the start of the school year. Well, I'm STILL waiting to hear about the visitor's visa!

I completed my application online at the end of June but didn't have my appointment for my photograph and fingerprints until early July. Then when my application arrived at the British Consulate they had it over a week before they opened it. I got an email at that point, saying that if everything was in order they could make a decision within 24 hrs. Of course that was on a Friday afternoon, so I wouldn't know anything 'til Monday afternoon. Surprisingly, they emailed me Monday afternoon -- NOT saying I was granted the visa as I hoped, but saying they would need 15 more days to process my request and make further inquiries!

Good grief! What do they think I'm trying to do???

Because I'm having such a hard time getting a VISITOR'S visa, I figured there's no way they'll grant me a work permit! So I've had to shelf that plan for the time being. Something else is in the works, tho. But I don't know if it will happen for sure, so I won't say anything just yet.

In the meantime I plan to still wait for word on my visa and to start the school year substitute teaching. I'm not going to commit to a full-time position just yet, in case what I'm looking into/thinking about doing happens.

So, I've had a wonderful summer of waiting and exercising patience! And I can't believe it's nearly AUGUST! Some of my poor friends and former coworkers at my old school already go back to work on Monday. So glad I got outta that place when and how I did!

The Laws of Primogeniture

A conversation I had the other day reminded me of this poem by Linda Pastan. I don't have a deep knowledge of modern poets and poetry, but I really love her work. I think because she came to Baylor my senior year for our annual poetry festival and I attended her poetry reading. No one can bring life to a poem like the one who wrote it. So I hear her voice in my head when I read this poem, which makes it more meaningful . . .

The Laws of Primogeniture

My grandson has my father's mouth
with its salty sayings
and my grandfather's crooked ear
that heard the soldiers coming.

He has the pale eyes of the Cossack
who saw my great-great-grandmother
in the woods, then wouldn't stop
looking.

And see him now, pushing
his bright red fire truck towards
a future he thinks he's inventing
all by himself.

Seoul Check

Go check out my friend Elaine's new blog. She and her husband just moved to Seoul, South Korea -- he's in the army and she's teaching English. She's mostly blogging to keep her family and friends up to date, and she has some cool photos up of the city.

Any idea what this is???

I'll give you one hint:



I plan to send it to Locks of Love tomorrow, something I've always wanted to do! Hopefully it will be made into something beautiful for someone and become their crowning glory, as it was mine.





(((Sorry about the sideways photo, folks. I uploaded it straight from the memory card and am too lazy to put it into a program just so I can flip it once)))

It's an enigma

I love grapefruit, but I hate grapefruit juice (from a can or bottle...never tried it fresh, tho).

I love plums, but I hate prunes.

Similarly, I love grapes, but don't care for raisins (I'll eat them, but mostly I'm "eh" about 'em).

I'm afraid of heights, but I really want to go sky diving some day.

Ok, that's all I can think of right now. I'll add more later, I'm sure. Or not. Who knows.

His life is a constant dilemma: in Australia he feels Greek; in Greece he feels Australian.
"It's a bittersweet thing, knowing two cultures." Sighing, he stares at the glittering turquoise cradling the coast, thinking of his kids at the opposite end of the earth.
"It's a curse to love two countries." The man smiles wryly at his own melodramatic words. But there is sadness in his eyes.

~from Almost French by Sarah Turnbull

My sentiments EXACTLY!

As a full-time employee I used to dream of having abundant spare time, imagining all the ways I could fill it. But now that it's limitless, it doesn't feel like freedom. More like I'm free falling. Some days the sensation is exhilarating and the hours hang before me like opportunities. But mostly I'm praying for the parachute to open, the moment when my feet will plant firmly on the ground.

~from Almost French by Sarah Turnbull

Crossing my fingers . . .

I've made it my short-term goal in life to attend this:

Jehovah Rophe

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
25 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. 26 He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
~Exodus 15:22-26

My whole life I've always known this: God heals. There is no doubt in my mind that He has the power to heal anything, at anytime. This is a faith and assurance that was instilled in me as a small child. I vividly remember my parents faithfully praying when anyone of us got sick. We rarely went to doctors; we just prayed. Not one of us in my family doesn't have a story of supernatural healing. I am so thankful to my parents for revealing that truth to me at such a young age, and I pray that I never lose it.

Yet it's still so amazing to hear stories such as this. It's amazing to hear how God is moving and miraculously healing today. Some may question and doubt, but I know that all things are possible through Him. (In case you haven't heard, He grew my leg last year!) And here's another story of God's healing at King's Arms. I actually know this guy, Joe -- he always comes for visitors' night at the Nightshelter and on more than one occasion we've run into him in town and he's treated us to coffee. He will be one of the first to attest that he has encountered Jehovah Rophe, and knows God is his healer.

I pray that all will have this revelation and know that God can heal all physical, mental, emotional and spiritual diseases, and encounter God like Joe and many others have!

Discovery Health is bad for my health

So the TV up in my room is wired with cable, yet for the past 18 months I only seem to get 14 stations. No idea why. One day all the other stations decided to air snow instead of the regularly scheduled program.

The two cable stations I actually get are Bravo and Discovery Health. Needless to say, I get sucked into countless shows on both stations. So it's actually a blessing in disguise that I don't get the full cable load! But if I were given a wide selection, I probably wouldn't choose to sit down and watch Discovery Health. There are some interesting shows and it's all one big reality TV show station (since all the shows deal with real people with real problems). But the more I watch the more I realize that Discovery Health is, in fact, bad for my health.

One of my big life issues is fear. Ever since I was a little girl I remember being afraid of things from oompa loompas to our dog, Benji, jumping on top of me when I went out to the backyard. Forget having to converse with strangers and do things by myself (like playing outside where people can see me and asking for help with basic things). Since becoming an "adult" I've realized the spiritual connection and have spent many hours over the years praying for freedom from fear. However, it's still there and manifests itself in the oddest ways sometimes.

Well, Discovery Health has a way of fostering fear inside of me, let me tell you! With shows like Deliver Me and Baby Stories, I'm aware of all the complications that can occur during pregnancy -- miscarriage, emergency c-sections, the baby's organs growing on the outside of their body, a surprise twin, premature babies being in the hospital for weeks, etc. I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant speaks for itself! And then I'm afraid of all the possible conditions my child could be born with, like primordial dwarfism, a parasitic twin, skeletal dysplasia, and countless other conditions. Shows like Big Medicine and The World's Heaviest Man make me fear I can become morbidly obese. And shows like I Lost It and Half of Me make me worry I'd either need surgery or expensive trainers and nutritionists to lose all the weight. Then we have Mystery Diagnosis that makes me fear I may get a disease or condition that countless doctors won't be able to diagnose. Add to that Trama - Life in the ER, Untold Stories of the ER, and Impact: Stories of Survival, all which bring fear to the simple everyday tasks of driving, mowing the lawn, swimming in the ocean, and even walking down the street (in case there's a drive by!). And Dr. G, Medical Examiner tops it all off by showing some of the simplest and unexpected ways people can die.*

So thank you, Discovery Health, for opening the door to millions of new fears I didn't even know existed.**






*Don't worry, folks. I don't watch ALL of these shows. Just one or two of them from time to time over the past year or so.

**Of course, I say that very tongue-in-cheek, and must assure you, reader, that I don't live my life in that much fear!

So I still haven't fully started blogging again . . .

Sorry about that. One problem is there's only one computer in the household at the moment. I left mine in England back in March, when I thought I would be going back in April (I still need to blog about that). So the three of us here always fight over computer time. I actually stay up late and do most of my computering in the wee small hours of the morning.

I've been working on my CV (curriculum vitae) the past few nights. That's what the Brits call a resume. It's different in the sense that it appears to be more personal and detailed. You write in first person and explain a little more what you've done. The odd thing to me is people also typically list their coursework and grades going back to the latter years of high school (what Brits call "college"). I'm not doing that bit. Heck, I wouldn't know where to begin to look for those grades! And I can't even remember what classes I had my senior year. I've barely found my college transcript and even that one isn't the official one!

This CV has been the bane of my existence the past few weeks. I searched and searched and only found two or three examples online, and those were each vastly different from each other. So I emailed a few people asking for advice/a sample if they had one. 'Cause the problem is I don't even know what a NORMAL CV should look like. Then the floodgates finally opened and I found two solid examples online AND the wonderful and beautiful Bekki forwarded her's to me, along with some good links. So I've been working like crazy the past two nights to get this thing done! At the moment it's a bit long-winded. And I don't even have everything on it yet! So there will need to be some major editing. And if anyone reading this post is a CV connoisseur and would like to give mine a looksie, I'd be ever so grateful!

So why am I painstakingly writing this CV, you ask? Well, because the plan before the British government detained me at the border and made me cry my eyes out in front of them, was to go back to Bedford and seriously search for a teaching position. I figured it would be easier to obtain from that side of the pond. Since being home I was so disoriented and unsure about things I lost the motivation to pursue teaching anywhere -- overseas and at home. But I'm slowly getting my mojo back. It's a long, hard process, and I'm probably a few weeks behind others, but I'm gonna give it a go and see what happens. So I'll keep y'all posted.

In the meantime, here's a commercial I shared on my Facebook that cracks me up. Enjoy!

Let's Get Started

Well, not really.
I just can't remember if I've posted this video before. I love it. The song and the skit. I watched it/heard the song zillions of times last fall, so it instantly takes me back those few months.