Christmas

Well, I finally get a chance to sit down and write about Christmas 2009 while I delay my exile (Mandy has banished me to the couch so she can sleep without me waking her up with my sneezing and coughing). It was wonderful, and we all very much enjoyed it between the food, plenty of fellowship, and of course the presents.

Christmas began for us on Christmas Eve day when Mom bought herself a new HP laptop as a gift. She loves it, and so does Mandy especially (a few words here: webcam and self-portraits should give you the picture). Later that afternoon, we went over to Uncle Josh's house for the clan gathering with Grandma Linda. We first enjoyed various appetizers and the like for supper, and then afterwards we went to the basement for something new: singing. Uncle Josh had printed out some sheets for Christmas songs like "O Christmas Tree," "Silent Night," and "Jingle Bells," so we all gathered around Hannah, who played the piano, and Noah, who played the violin, while we sang. We sounded good, and Uncle Josh even offered us a rare look at his bass version of "O Holy Night." After singing, we went back upstairs and opened presents. I don't remember everything we got, but I do know that Seth got a tie and a shirt (he wore them on Sunday and looked rather sharp) as well as a sweater, Mandy got a purse, a shirt, and a makeup kit, while I got a purple shawl, some black gloves, some earrings, headphones for my MP3 (which fit my ears beautifully), and a makeup kit. After opening presents, the adults and older kids participated in the white elephant gift exchange. This year included a Joel Osteen video, a dial-up modem, moon pies, a train set, my old college textbooks that I couldn't sell, a snuggie (which we got and which is really, really warm), a book on beer dieting (which ironically I ended up getting), vienna sausage, and stuff like that. After that, we settled around to pass the rest of the evening with conversation and grazing off of the food table. Things turned interesting when Noah brought out his violin and played some tunes while we had a bit of a hoe down in the living room. I captured some videos of the event, but I've yet to upload them or the pictures, which I shall try to remedy at some point. All in all, a wonderful evening.

Christmas morning. Mom woke up first to start making the bacon for the quiche, which woke up Mandy who took great delight in forcing Seth and me out of our beds. Ironic that 11 AM is her normal wake-up hour on vacation but Christmas morning she wakes up at 7 AM; there's something perverse about that. Anyway, so we got up and ate some leftover sausage to tide us over until breakfast, then we opened presents. Dad got a beer magazine, some tobacco, a new lighter, a sweater, and a sleeveless coat. Mom got a package of lambaic (a sour beer made of fruit), a new cutting board, a new collander (which we all love using much better than the old one), and a new purse. Seth got new headphones, a new MP3, new shirts, a set of keys, and a new book for his drawings. Mandy got a UGA sweater, matching hat and gloves, a set of keys, a few keychains, and a notebook. I got a durable notebook with the Celtic scroll design on it that I'm still finding a use for, a gift card to Cato (which I spent on two shirts yesterday), a cute outfit from Cato, two keychains, earrings, a portable hard drive (there's a story behind it that I won't tell now) and a book called "Dead Men's Secrets" (which I read in two days). After opening presents, we ate breakfast and watched "Joyeux Noel", a foreign film about the Christmas ceasefire during World War 1 (very touching movie. See the Ramblings blog for a more detailed review). The Greers invited us over for lunch, and we enjoyed ourselves with talking, good food, and a tense game (forgot the name) between Seth and Caleb. After spending the afternoon there, Mandy stayed to spend the night while the rest of us went home.

On the 26th, we went to Grandpa Mike's house for the clan gathering there. There was the usual feast and the grazing and conversation. In the basement, the kids played video games. Noah, Mandy, Seth, and a non-blood relative played a multi-player Mario game; their commentary of "hey, leave me a penguin suit!" "hey, come here, Alex, and I'll throw you in the lava" "press A! No, you cowards!" "Mandy, you're going to debtors' prison for losing that many lives" was half the fun while I focused on a tetris game. We stayed there for a few hours then went home.

On the 27th (Sunday) we had the Bowman family over for lunch. This is a large family of 11 people, but we managed to fit around two tables. Mom made beef stroganoff, salad, rolls, lemon cheesecake, and a chocolate torte for the meal, and everyone seemed to like it. After lunch, we kids (both older and younger) went outside to play frisbee then later went on a little walk. We were all tired afterwards, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

And that's what our Christmas was: busy yet fun. Lord willing, we're driving to Florida on Friday to visit Grandpa Large for a few days (and I'm hoping this cough goes away before then), and then we'll have one more week before we get back into our normal schedules. Well, mostly normal. I'm not going to college next semester, and I'm waiting to go back next fall. In the meantime, I'm hoping to find a job (I turned in several applications today for various places) to keep me busy.

I'll try to upload pictures of Christmas soon, if I can snag Seth's computer. In the meantime, I should get to bed and hope I sleep better tonight.

Christmas Begins

Well, we're just about ready for Christmas. As of Friday, everyone's Christmas shopping was done (finally! I hate shopping at the mall during the holidays; makes me feel claustrophobic), so we could focus on the white elephant party that evening. The party was a lot of fun, and we all enjoyed it. We played a couple of games, including paper telephone and movie charades, and towards the end we watched "Napoleon Dynamite." Mom tried a wassail recipe, and oh, it was delicious! Nothing like hot apple cider to brighten a cold and otherwise gloomy day. The elephant gifts went well, and I got a goldfish in the process. No, it wasn't dead, and in fact Artie (the fish that I've been forbidden to re-name) seems to be doing splendidly in his new glass bowl with fish-friendly water. One of the gifts that evening was the infamous mannequin head that Mandy calls "Erica." She and Bethany found it in a box years ago, and the thing creeps me out. It was a gag gift last year, and this year she made a comeback and is now back in our house. Cliff loved the Vienna sausage we gave him (I had the idea of putting it in a Victoria's Secret bag to see if I could scare anyone with it. It didn't work, but it was fun anyway), and people liked the ball hoop you could put on your head... well, as long as you're not wearing it and become the target. All in all, a good evening. The next day, Seth and Mandy went to a birthday party and saw "Avatar" with some friends afterwards, which they enjoyed.

With all the presents wrapped and such, now it's time to focus on the food aspect of Christmas. Mom bought two pumpkins, and since yesterday I've been helping her mash them up to make real pumpkin pie. So far, one pie has been made, and it looks delicious; we're going to try it out on the family on Christmas Eve. Not only that, but we're having the entire Bowman family over on Sunday (since their two oldest sons are visiting from Texas during that time), and so Mom's got the menu planned out. It looks to be a good yet busy weekend coming up.

Pictures!

In light of the White Elephant party tomorrow, I finally snagged Seth's computer to upload pictures. Enjoy!

Corn Maze:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=132141&id=603748360&l=ace73745ae

Thanksgiving:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=132139&id=603748360&l=fbc2850cbf

Party at the Bowmans:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=132137&id=603748360&l=5938cbf921

O Christmas Tree

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy with working on this 12 page history paper that's due next week (I can't believe that I couldn't find any books on the Byzantine empire. Thus I got stuck with the internet instead) and am battling a cold. On Monday I was feverish and just out of it, but on Tuesday I felt more functional. Right now I'm facing the dreaded dry cough. My defense? Vitamins and lots of water. Mandy also has been battling, but this time it is her teeth. The orthodontist put another wire in her mouth for whatever reason, and her gum is growing over it, which is causing some discomfort. I know she will certainly rejoice when her braces come off, as they have not been kind to her these past few years, but she has been a trooper.

Nothing much has happened this week or last except the Christmas tree on Saturday. For about a week, we had planned to get our tree, watch "A Christmas Story" (which has become an annual tradition), and have Zaxby's for dinner. The afternoon was bitter cold when we went to Home Depot to see what they had. Mandy was hilarious, trying to hold up these massive trees and nearly falling over at one point. After buying a tree we liked, we went home to decorate it. With the piano out of the room, we finally had enough space for a tree, as for a few years we never bought one. Then we watched the movie and ate supper. My favorite part about a real Christmas tree is its smell, how fresh and green it is; nothing compares to it, and I love it. The cats like the tree too... drinking from the water, that is. We're constantly refilling the bowl, but that's to be expected when you have seven beasts in the house.

Ok, back to work. Got to get this rough draft of the paper done today.

Thanksgiving

Well, I'll jot down this quick post before bed, else I will forget about it tomorrow.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was the first real family reunion that I've attended since returning from Houston, so it was nice to see everyone again. Mom made rolls and a huge batch of mashed potatoes, and there was plenty of food. Uncle Jason fried two turkeys (which were delicious), and then there was the stuffing and the gravy plus a bunch of side dishes. I don't think I've ever eaten so much potatoes and gravy and creamed corn in my life before. After the meal, the kids ran outside, but they soon returned inside when it proved to be very cold and windy. The adults sat around the table (there were about three or four tables that we joined together so everyone could see and talk to each other) and talked about various subjects like roughing it out in Montana or hilarious childhood memories from Dad and the uncles. We stayed there for about six hours before everyone began to depart. When we got home, it was around 7 PM, but it felt much later. We watched a couple of movies (well, I watched one of them. I was busy working on nano word count) before going to bed while Dad brewed.

On Friday, Mandy, Sunny, and I got together to spend the night with Grandma Linda. We spent a few hours in the later afternoon shopping for Christmas presents before going back to the house with Papa John's for dinner. Grandma taught us a new card game, and we had a blast with it, staying up late to see who would win. In the end, Grandma won, and even Mandy, who had been in the negative zone for the first few games, ended up with a higher score than me. Saturday dawned warm and sunny as we drove up to Tangier Outlets in Commerce for a few hours. It was packed there, but we found some good stuff. I bought a few things for myself, and I contemplated brown boots, which seem to be the fashion nowadays, but I'm waiting until after Christmas when they are sure to be much cheaper. The crowds started getting bigger and we were getting hungry, so we went to McDonalds for a late lunch then went home. All in all, a good weekend.

Otherwise, nothing much has happened since then. Mom and the kids went to a planetarium on Monday (which meant waking up at 6:30. Ugh), and they enjoyed it. I discovered that I have this week and next week of classes before finals, which is freaking me out a bit because I'm still trying to think of a topic for my 12-page history paper; once I know that and get the research, my fingers will fly. We're still talking about Plato in philosophy, which is still making my head spin though reading it I see subtle topics that are relevant and seen even in today's modern society. It's interesting, to say the least.

Well, I've got to get to bed. I've got to get to school early tomorrow for a longer philosophy class (because we spent one entire class period discussing good literature instead of Plato, so now we have to make it up. Thanks, John).

50 K!

Yep... this afternoon I passed the nano goal of 50 K! Granted, what I have is not organized and has large chunks missing out of it, but I passed and am a winner! So, yeah, I'm feeling very giddy right now.

Tomorrow I'll try to post about Thanksgiving and the weekend with Grandma Linda and Sunny.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A very happy Thanksgiving to you all! Enjoy this day!

How to Buy Tickets

Note to self: when you find tickets for a show you really want to attend, do not wait a month before buying them. We delayed on buying Owl City tickets, and thus there shall be no concert for Mandy, Dad, and me next February. But then, I doubt there were many tickets because the venue was so small. I hope he comes back to Atlanta in the near future.

On a happier note, Celtic Woman finally announced their 2010 tour last night. And they're making two stops in Atlanta in February (ironically, a week after what would have been Owl City). Yes, so I'm feeling very giddy about it right now. I'm waiting to see if a few friends are interested in going, though I think it will depend on the cost of a ticket. If they've gone down from what I paid last year, I'll be a happy camper. So, until then, time to count down and see when the Fox will start selling the tickets. Probably December.... grrr.

Sorry for the Delay

I apologize for the lack of posts, but I'm up to my neck in school and this stupid nano (which has no end in sight and which is making me hate its boring self). There's just so much to post about, but when I finally find the time to sit down, I've forgotten some of it.

Last Saturday, we attended the church's annual Thanksgiving dinner, which is always a great time of fellowship. Everyone pitched in and brought something, and the food was delicious. Mom bought some new gadget that allowed her to make ten pounds of mashed potatoes, and oh, were they excellent! After the meal, everyone, kids and adults alike, was allowed to stand up one at a time and share what they were thankful for. You had a wife thankful that her husband is returning from Afghanistan in a few weeks, husbands thankful for their wives, thanking God for being employed during this tough economic time, and being thankful for attending a good church. After that, everyone pitched in to clean up the church and prepare it for worship the next day. We were the last to leave, as Mom mopped the floor, and we were tired the next day. But, nonetheless, we enjoyed the service. One thing that was especially nice was being able to use our new sanctuary. About a month or so ago, construction finally began on the expansion of our church. They first built the extension on the back of the sanctuary then covered it before knocking down the wall to connect the two rooms. The newer part of the room is not quite finished yet, but sitting in it during the dinner and during church definitely made the entire sanctuary look bigger. Looking at the original size, I'm amazed that we fit so many people into the room; we must have absolutely been like canned sardines.

Now that the extension is connected, it will continue on the front side of the building where the sanctuary will be expanded about ten more feet. The bad thing about this is that today they tore up the bushes and sidewalk in the front of the church, which makes getting to the door complicated and muddy. We're supposed to be using the new door, but it's been blocked off because the extension is not quite finished. As I said, it complicates things.

Oh, before I forget. Thursday was loads of fun. We gathered a small group of peers from the youth group to go to the north Georgia corn maze before it closed down for the season on Saturday. We got dinner at McDonald's then drove an hour and a half to the Cleveland area. We then proceeded to get lost trying to find the road to turn onto, so Mom called Dad for help. With his aid, we figured that there are two roads titled "75" in the Cleveland/ Helen area; idiots couldn't have come up with a different name for it. Anyway, we arrived at the place but found that no one was at the desk. We were tempted to go inside the maze inside anyway, but a guy arrived, so we paid and went inside. The goal of the maze is to put seven whole punches into your paper from little hole punches all over the maze. We had to find these using flashlights. Mandy hung with Christopher and Bethany, Seth and Ben C. were loners, Ben G. and Cliff were together, and I was with Mom. The maze was much muddier than we expected, and our shoes and pants were covered in mud afterwards. Next time, I'll wear tennis shoes and not crocs. Anyway, Cliff and Ben, who finished early, took great delight in sneaking up on the girls and making them scream so loud you could hear them from all the way across the maze (which covered roughly eight acres). Cliff and Ben were cruel to me and Mom by jumping us and making Mom lose her hair clip temporarily. Then, while we were looking for the 4th hole puncher, they covered it up while we walked past. Towards the end, my eyes got used to the dark, so I walked without a flashlight. I found the 4th and 6th hole puncher by myself after I split off from Mom towards the end, and I had to guide her to both of them. After we finished the maze and got a few pictures (which I have yet to upload), we climbed back into the car and drove back to the church. After we dropped off Bethany to go home with Ben, we went to Burger King for a midnight snack of onion rings. We were tired, but oh, it was so much fun! We're planning on going again next fall and maybe even filming another film there, as the place would be perfect for either a sequel to "Curse of the Wood Man" or some sappy horror film.

And the rest of the week is going to be busy as well. Tomorrow we're having some friends over for a movie night to watch the new "Star Trek" (we watched it on Friday, and it was good). I have school on Wednesday (curse the Butler for only giving me one day for Thanksgiving break), then on Thursday we're going to Jefferson to celebrate Thanksgiving with the clan.

Whee!

Tonight, the youth group (including my family) is going to a corn maze in north Georgia. I'm looking forward to it, and I'll see if I can get any pictures, though it may be hard in the dark. Tomorrow Seth and Dad are going to Auburn, Alabama for an economics conference. And Saturday night, we're attending the church's annual Thanksgiving dinner, always a social event of the year. It's going to be a busy weekend.

Nano continues onwards. I am past 34 K, which means 16 K is left. I'm thinking now that I'm going to go far beyond 50 K because I simply have too much left to put in. With "New Moon" coming out tomorrow (much to my disgust), I'm trying to keep my desire to write a better human/ vampire romance story on the back burner; hard to when you have a contest to complete first. Argh!

Disappearing Is Nice...

I've been taking my own sweet time reading Plato's "Republic" for philosophy class because, frankly, it's one of the most boring books I've ever read and there is no set deadline. This afternoon I was going to finish reading Book 2 when I realized I couldn't find it, much to my pleasure. Mom teased me, saying that I probably threw it away but didn't want to admit it. Why would I do such a thing when I can sell it on-line when I'm done with it? Anyway, I was ready to celebrate the book's disappearance when I found it hiding on my dresser. I was bummed out, so I had to sit down and read it.

Also, I thought cockroach season is over down here. Tonight I've seen two cockroaches (possibly three) in the house, and one of them is dead. One of them decided to torment me by sitting on the shower rod while I was showering. I'm officially creeped out, to say the least. I hate those demon bugs. I wish there was a simple way to blast them all at once and keep them from coming back forever.

Party

Tonight we three Cunninghams helped participate in a large surprise party for our friend Leila Bowman. She was completely surprised. Once when she walked into the house and secondly when she unwrapped a suspicious-looking box to find Cliff inside. We ran around outside in the dark with a few flashlights before returning inside for some games. I got plenty of pictures, but I haven't uploaded them yet. I may do it tomorrow.

One good thing about going to a small college is that if the major teacher gets sick, there is no class. I nearly panicked this morning to wake up and find that it was 8:30, and my class is at 9:00. I discovered, though, that the Butler was sick. No classes meant some time to start taking notes for my second paper for Bible class, where I shall be refuting the New Perspective on Paul heresy.

I am also convinced that vitamin D does work. I had a headache earlier that was a warning sign of an impeding fever, but I took a large dose in the morning and smaller doses throughout the day. I'm feeling better and will continue taking them until this cough is gone. Until then, I'm more convinced of its natural remedy.

Results

I had the interview this morning, but sadly I don't think I'm going to be hired. They were looking for someone to help close up at night (which could be anytime between 10 PM to 1 AM) and which 1) I cannot drive to it but also 2) with college I do not want to be out late, especially on the night before morning classes. I'm going to keep looking for work.

We had a very busy weekend. Mom, Mandy, and myself went to the annual ladies' retreat in Helen, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We had plenty of opportunity to fellowship with everyone else and enjoyed the two lessons, one on repentance and the other on modesty. All in all, an excellent weekend.

The weather here is pretty gross. Tropical Storm Ida (now a depression) is passing over us, giving us plenty of rain (like we need any more after the flooding in September) and a lot of wind, which is blowing the dying leaves off of the trees. As I said before, we're expecting a hard winter. I'm hoping for some nice snow because 1) we're long overdue and 2) I have a music video idea I'd like to try out, but it will only work with snow.

I know I'm rushing the post, but I haven't had much time to sit down and type it. Between college, catching up on nanowrimo (I'm at 18 K right now), and staying busy at school and with shopping, I haven't updated this blog as much. I will try to keep it fairly updated. Otherwise, nothing else interesting has been going on.

God Be Praised!

I have some good news! I have a job interview next Tuesday morning!

What happened is this: on Wednesday after my classes, we went to Toys 'R Us for some early Christmas shopping and saw that they were hiring. I went home and filled out the application on-line, not expecting a response because I have no experience in retail. Well, during philosophy class this morning, my phone started buzzing. It was a local number and since I had turned in the application, I decided to answer it in the hall. The lady was really nice and said that they were hiring temporary workers for the holiday season, and she wanted me to come in for an interview on Tuesday. I was so ecstatic when I heard it. It will be temporary, but it nonetheless will mean pay and experience, both of which are good. And Mom said that if I work well enough, they may decide to keep me on. That is, if I'm hired. But I'm feeling really happy that they called me for an interview because that is a very hopeful sign. As the title of my post says, God be praised for His love!

"You Might Be a Redneck if..."

Mandy lately has been speaking in more southern twang (probably from hanging out with the Greers), and today in the Costco parking lot she came up with a new word that cracked me and Mom up. She said "hawt," i.e. hot, and she spelled it for us.

I guess our southern blood is coming back. Got to get rid of the Yankee accent.

Ugh...

History class is quickly becoming boring. We've spent a ton of time on the Greeks, and the Butler keeps dragging it on. He keeps saying "ok, next class period we'll take about Alexander and his empire." He's been saying it for a week. Needless to say, I'm quickly learning to hate the Greeks. As Mom says, what a teacher's specialty is, they'll spend a lot of time focusing on that. Well, it's true. For Mr. Price it is the ancient world (particularly the Middle East), and for Mr. Butler it's Greece.

Oh, and just a head's up. It's not common knowledge because I'm not fully confirming it yet, but I won't be returning to Christ College next semester (and no, it has nothing to do with the slow classes right now). I'm still working out the details, but I'll probably be going elsewhere next fall with a break this winter (hopefully which I will use to build my income back up). As I said, nothing's been confirmed yet, but it's just a head's up.

Mom and the Eye

For those of you who know Mom, you'll know that she hates eyeballs. She can dissect anything except one of those. Yesterday, Mr. Butler brought in Halloween candy to school (which he took some from his kids) for us three students who were there. Among the candy were two eyeballs made of candy, the weirdest and grossest thing I've ever seen. I mentioned that Mom hated eyeballs, and Ben C. decided to play a little good-natured joke on her. He opened the package (with great difficulty) and approached her as she was taking out the garbage. He held it out and said something like "I found this. I think the kids may have found it somewhere." The look on Mom's face was priceless. Especially when Ben ate it. Mom thanked me for telling my classmates that she hates eyes. It was funny.

Whoo!

Well, two things to celebrate about. First, we're going to see Owl City in concert next year! I e-mailed the venue with a question regarding its supposed age limit, but I got a response that said we could go. Mandy was so excited when she heard the news, and I was too. If we're able to go in February of next year, this will be Mandy's first real concert and my real second one for the first time in years. Mandy's trying to organize a group of her friends to go, as several of them are Owl City fans.

Second, after a month of hassle with the insurance company, Seth has been added. Thus, he can now drive by himself in the car. A big step for him. Tonight he's driving Mandy to Christopher's birthday party (which is only five minutes away, but still, it's a first).

Need a Laugh?

Check out the video we filmed yesterday! It's meant to be a spoof on horror movie trailers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2qZBhWbegw

Pictures!

Well, there's been no Butlerian Jihad yet. And I stress "yet." I have absolutely no idea what to expect with this paper, as I have no clue how he grades stuff.

Anyway, on a cheerier note, pictures! I finally stopped slacking and uploaded 757 pictures from my camera to Seth's laptop. I took over 200 at the beach, but about 91 made the final cut to my facebook album. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118599&id=603748360&l=7d1d167105

Today

I need a brief break. I'm writing a paper for my history of philosophy class, and I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing or how to defend the statement I chose.

Dad took me driving earlier this afternoon. I drove in a few big loops all over this business park area with stop signs, some other cars, and stuff like that. I'm feeling more confident about it. I'm still a beginner and need to learn to pay attention, not to stick to the curb, and stop better, but it's not as nerve-wracking as it was when I drove back from Alabama.

Well, back to this paper. If I don't post again, you'll know that Mr. Butler killed me in class, so be forewarned.

Sheesh....

Well, Seth about gave me a heart attack yesterday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mom and the kids spend most of the day at Geneva-at-Home so Mom can teach and the kids get their science in. So there they were at school and I was at home, listening to pandora (love it) and just goofing off when I heard a knock on the door. I peeked outside but saw no car, so I figured it was probably a salesman or something like that. There was a more insistent knock, but I ignored it, hoping that whoever it was would go away. There was some noise on the porch, and I began thinking "what is going on?" Then, the back door opens and I hear Seth call " Ashley?" Well, what happened was is that Christopher dropped Seth off from GaH, but I wasn't expecting it. I was relieved it was just Seth, but, man, it was sort of creepy. Thanks, Seth.

Last night's youth group went well. Mom made carnitas and butterfinger cheesecake, and everyone was hungry. Everyone went back for seconds of the meal, and a few even had thirds. After eating, we sang then had our little study on purity and our calling. Then Mom cut the cheesecake, which was delicious. Ben Greer took home three extra slices for his parents and his half-uncle, and it makes me wonder if he just ate them instead. Some of the guys stayed until 10:30 talking about various subjects from seceding states, experiences with wrestling teachers who beat the crap out of you, and karate moves. Mandy and Noah, of course, couldn't play nice like cousins should, but it was entertaining to watch the two at each other's throats.

Tonight should be relaxing. Dad and Seth are going to the church's annual Father- Son campout in Winder, a big highlight each year. We girls have unknown plans except probably to sit back and watch a few movies.

Oh, an update. I applied at three places for work about four weeks ago today, but no response from any of them except "well, maybe we'll hire at the end of the month." Same thing most other places have said. Call me crazy, but I miss being employed. There's a few more places I'll be applying to, but I'm not that hopeful in this economy. Keep me in your prayers regarding this.

Still Cold

Looks like we're in for a harsh winter. The squirrels usually hang around for a while, but we've barely seen any for three weeks. The hummingbirds disappeared quickly too. The extremely wet summer means the leaves won't change colors; they're green, but they're beginning to die without changing. And, plus, the weather lately has been feeling more like December than mid-October. Yesterday and today are the exception, but it feels like November outside right now.

On Saturday, the family got together to celebrate Uncle Jason's 40th with a surprise birthday party. It was cloudy and cold that day, but we still went outside... though not for long. Aunt Nancy did a good job of covering her tracks; Uncle Jason was completely in the dark until they pulled into the parking lot and he recognized the cars. It was a lovely occasion with plenty of food, hot apple cider, conversation, and then the slideshow. No one hung out long, though, because everyone was freezing in the 40- degree weather. I got some pictures of the event, but there are only a few. I promise to try to upload the pictures from Florida this week. One funny memory of the party was when Grandpa Mike offered up thanks before we started eating, and he started listing Uncle Jason and Aunt Nancy's four girls; in short, he forgot Audrey's name, and people started snickering. But, hey, twelve (soon-to-be thirteen) grandchildren are hard to keep track of. It was funny.

After the party, Uncle Josh and Noah accompanied us to Grandma Linda's house. For about a month, we've only had one couch since we threw the other one out; so, Grandma was very generous to give us one that she wasn't using. What can I say? It's a big hit. The couch is like two independent recliners attached together, and it's become very popular. Mandy has already staked out a chair that no one, cat or human, can claim. On Sunday, she and Dad enjoyed afternoon naps on the couch. It's a great couch, and we all love it. Even the cats like it.

Mandy's cough seems to be worsening a bit. We think that the cats may aggravate it, though they are not the cause of it; the original cause is still a mystery. She's been taking her inhaler and albuterol (she hates it, and I feel her pain) daily, but it's lingering. She's still sleeping at night with very minimal coughing, which is good, but it is odd that it arrived so early. Keep her in your prayers.

Other then that, nothing much else has happened. On Thursday, we're hosting the church's youth group for dinner and the fellowship afterwards, which we're looking forward to. Mom and the kids have taken a week off from school to do yard work and such, but they're still staying busy. College is going good, though I think we're making snail's progress on Greece in history class. In philosophy, we're talking about philosophers, and I'm reminded why such things make my head spin; I really dislike logic and philosophy. But, hey, it'll make me tougher.

Well, back to work. Nanowrimo starts in 12 days, and I need to get this new story idea ready.

Brrr... cold

After a nice hot week in sunny Florida, now it's back to autumn in Georgia. Gloomy autumn, that is. It's been raining or cloudy most of the week, and now the temperature is beginning to drop to the 50's during the day. The good thing about the weather is that Lake Lanier is officially filled... after it got drained due to a mistake made by whoever was running Buford Dam, but still it's good news. At least, provided no further mistakes are made, Gwinnett County won't turn into a desert. Despite getting lots of rain, which I'm not complaining about, I'm not ready for the weather to turn cold again. I don't mind the heat (as long as the humidity isn't bad but which isn't reality most of the time in the South), but as a Southern gal I'm not a fan of the cold. Well, I don't mind it if we get snow, not the powdery stuff that falls for an hour then melts almost instantly. I'd say we're overdue for another snowstorm (the last major one being in 1993). Now that'd be nice.

This week went well. Nothing big happened except the usual routine of school and the like. Seth's been drawing some more and has also been writing more of his ant story (he's up to ten chapters, I think). Mandy's been her usual social self, and she's getting me hooked on electronic pop band Owl City (love their song "Fireflies"). However, Mims seems be catching a cold or is in early stages of her asthma. She started coughing while we were in Florida, which was odd, and it continued after we came home. She's been taking her asthma medicine, and we hope to nip this thing in the bud. Though it is odd that this year it came early because usually her coughs don't start until February, not October. Maybe it's the cool weather. This week, we girls have been in sort of a frenzy, constantly voting for Amy's blog "The Budget Mommy," and it seemed as if everyone's hard work was paying off. Yesterday, we received a nasty shock when a rival blog suddenly jumped to first place, leaving Amy in the dust of second place. Now there are so many votes that it's hard to make a dent. We'll keep trying, but it'll be harder then it was before the rival joined the game. Maybe I should report that the numbers are off; they don't all add up to 100% but to 101%.

Well, back to work. Nanowrimo starts in 18 days, and I'm trying to get some of the chapter outlines organized so I can push myself to finish in time.

Vote for Amy!

If you have any time, take a few seconds and vote for Amy's budget blog "The Budget Mommy!" Follow the link and go down to the poll, where her blog's name should be at the bottom of it. You can vote as many times as you can. The deadline ends on October 19th.

http://pregnant.thebump.com/extras/mommy-blog-awards/articles/budget-mommy-blog-finalists.aspx

Back from Florida!

We're back from Florida! What an excellent week! Being just at the ocean is a vacation in itself.

On Saturday morning, we got up around 8 AM so we could finish packing and then load the car. We finally got out of the house around 9:30 and drove to Chick-fil-A for breakfast. Then the driving began. It was roughly a seven-hour journey, but keep in mind we're no strangers to driving long distances; driving for three weeks from Georgia all over the West proves that. Needless to say, we've figured out ways to keep ourselves busy on car trips, usually for me and Mandy which means bringing out the MP3s. Anyway, we drove to Alabama and turned south in Birmingham, where Mandy took the wheel to drive a little. The area there was rough, and I've never been in a place where I've seen bars on most of the windows in some of the houses. South of the city, we headed for the more rural areas. They were absolutely beautiful, just houses on hills of green grass or surrounded by trees. A few looked fairly old, though we didn't see any plantation houses, but I loved the whole rural feeling of it all. In a town called Luverne, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch then Dad took the wheel for the rest of the way. We finally arrived in Fort Walton (about seven miles from Destin) around 3 PM, and we were able to check into our room early. After unpacking the car, we drove to a public area of the beach, about five minutes from the hotel, and explored a little bit. We didn't go swimming, but we did get our feet wet. The beach had beautiful white sand, and the water was a clear blue. We were really excited, but we returned to the hotel for dinner.

On Sunday, it dawned cloudy with a chance of rain. After a devotional in the morning, we spent a few hours at the beach (mostly out of the water) then returned to the room for lunch. While we were making our sandwiches, it started raining. It was a slow afternoon, but my, it was full of silliness. Dad corrupted us forever by showing us some camera tricks with a mirror, and then later we goofed off with Mandy's squishies.

On Monday, it was still a bit cloudy though there was no rain. We went to the beach and discovered it had a red flag (which means a strong rip current) and the wind was creating huge waves. Mom stayed on the beach to do some schoolwork and I read a little before I went out to join the others. The current indeed was strong, and I soon retreated to shore. It was either this day or the next day that I began construction on what I called "Gondolin" (I borrowed the name from Tolkien). Basically, I dug a hole in the wet sand and left the very center undisturbed then surrounded it with a wall and a canal to let the water in. I made it twice in the period of a few days, but I imagined it as an island in the middle of a lake surrounded by mountains. Anyway, after dinner that night we went for a nightly walk on the beach and I ended up soaked by one small wave.

On Tuesday, it was still a red flag though it was nowhere near as strong as it had been on Monday. We all stayed out longer in the water, jumping waves and body-surfing, and we had a blast. The waves, however, stole my ponytail holder so I felt and looked like a wild woman for a few days. We all returned to the hotel that afternoon looking a bit cooked, so when we went to the beach again later we put sunscreen (we usually don't use sunscreen because it blocks UV rays, which is what enables your body to make vitamin D and which helps you to fight off colds and the like) only on the affected areas.

On Wednesday, we got more sun, and it was beginning to show a little more. Mandy was red briefly then immediately turned brown, but the rest of us took a few more days, probably because she gets the most sun out of all of us. The water was a bit more rough that day, but it was still a good day.

On Thursday, we decided we would drive to Cape San Blas to get some big seashells. However, we decided against it, so we ended up driving around a large beach community outside of Panama City. The community was absolutely beautiful, with several beach houses and condos everywhere and then the occasional shopping area. Later that afternoon, we went to the beach briefly for the last time. Before dinner, we went walking on The Strip, a bunch of little shops mostly dedicated to beer or tattoos, but we had fun just looking even though most of the stores were already closed. Then we had dinner and took advantage of the cable to watch "The Office" episode of Jim and Pam's wedding, though I watched that while everyone else watched "CSI" in the other room. We also discovered a show called "My Name Is Earl" that left us rolling afterwards. Anyway, then we began packing up everything.

We had originally planned to leave on Saturday, but we decided to leave on Friday so we could have a day to recover at home and also so that Mom could get the church cleaned for church. We woke up on Friday, finished the packing, then checked out. We took a bit of a loop while trying to find one of the roads, but we found it again. On a section of the rural road in northern Florida/southern Alabama I took the wheel for about thirty minutes or so. As Dad said, I didn't do that bad, but I feel otherwise. My speed kept shifting between 40 and 65 mph, I had a bit of trouble keeping the car in its lane, etc... I didn't feel so good about it afterwards, but I'm reminding myself that it was a first time on the road and I just need practice and experience. Anyway, Seth took over the wheel for a while, then Mandy then, due to heavy traffic, Dad took over. We ate at Wendy's for lunch near Birmingham and got caught in some of the Atlanta traffic, but we finally arrived home around 4 PM or so. Cliff was still there, so he got his things and left while we unpacked everything. After cleaning the house, Dad and Mandy brought home pizza for dinner.

I took lots of pictures on the trip, but there's (as Sondre Lerche says in one of my favorite songs) a major minor detail: no computer. My laptop is just about dead. Before we left on Saturday, I moved it to a secure location on my dresser, but one of the house-sitters moved it to the kitchen table, where one of the cats knocked over the fish bowl and left my laptop sitting in the water. I dried it out as best I could with a hair dryer yesterday, but turning it on, my battery is completely dead, my keyboard doesn't work, and the whole computer is just messed up. I managed to transport all my writing and some of my music to a USB drive, but moving my 19 GB of pictures taken over a period of two years is something I've yet to solve (as I can't use the internet or one of our external hard drives because the one with all our music died about two weeks ago and the replacement for it is acting weird as well). So, needless to say, there won't be any pictures until I figure out which computer to upload them to.

Anyway, the trip to the beach was great. It was nice just to relax and not go anywhere for a week, goofing off with the family and just enjoying ourselves. We went at a time when it wasn't very crowded and the weather was still nice and hot, so it was just perfect. Well, I've got to go. I've got to finish a rough draft of a paper due for Bible class on Monday and I've got a lot of reading due the same day (hey, it's hard to do homework when you're on vacation).

Tomorrow!

Lord willing, tomorrow morning we're leaving for Florida. The preparations are beginning full-force with mowing the lawn, making the zucchini bread, and packing clothes. Mom and Mandy are shopping at the moment, and we're all getting excited. We haven't been to the beach since the clan visit back in 2005 (and the brief jaunt in Jacksonville in December of 2007 doesn't count), so we're looking forward to it. I'm ready to get a tan and not look so pasty (dark to make my ancestors proud :D ) and maybe to be a sand architect. Mandy and I will be sure to take a whole bunch of pictures, so I'm charging my battery to make sure that will happen. The Price boys are house-sitting for us, and so we've got to make sure that everything is ready for them. And to make sure that Chloe's cage door is securely shut; she's figured out how to push the book off the top (and chew the book too. Darn little rodent), so we're going to tie wire around it and see if that prevents her from becoming the cats' next prey.

Well, I've got to go find that elusive MP3 of mine to charge it and add some new stuff. It seems to have disappeared again last night, and I need to find it. Plus, my left hand is telling me to stop typing (I burned my index finger on the sandwich maker this afternoon, and it didn't really start hurting until I put some aloe on it. It's working in a cycle, as first it was Mom who got burned, then Mims, and now me. The kitchen schemes against us Cunningham women). So this will be the last blog post until probably next Saturday, as we're only taking Dad's laptop to Florida and we won't be using it much. So, until then!

Preparations

And so it begins. We're leaving for Florida on Saturday morning, and today after school I'm going to try to find a bathing suit at Target. I forgot today to tell Mr. Butler that I won't be there next week, and that means getting access to those filmed videos... or stealing notes from one of my classmates. Which also reminds me of all that Bible homework that is due week after next. I better get on it.

I applied for three jobs on Friday. One at Publix (which I don't have much confidence in after talking to Brittny yesterday), one at Books for Less (not confident either), and one at Quik Trip. I'm more confident about QT because the manager knows us; he's a very friendly Black guy who knows our family by name because we used to go there every Thursday after co-op. He said some things to me while looking over my application that made me hopeful about being considered for a job there. So, we'll have to see.

On Friday, Mom and the kids went up to northern Georgia where they spent all day picking and sorting tomatoes. Our cousin Noah says that he now hates tomatoes with a passion. Poor Mom smelled like tomato muck for a while, which she was constantly trying to get rid of. They all came back tired, sore, and red, but they all enjoyed it. The money from this job, I think, is going towards a future trip that Mom wants to take with her science students next year.

And the church now looks completely different. After several years of planning and saving up, we are officially expanding it. The construction workers have chopped down several trees in the woods to make room for the new pipeline and for the expansion of the parking lot, and it's bittersweet; I have many fond memories of those woods, being chased around by the boys and also playing a fantasy game with another boy that inspired many early story attempts. The retaining wall behind the church is also gone, as the whole place is being leveled out. It's finally nice to begin building, but on the other hand it is getting less shaded and is looking a bit different... but I'm sure we all get used to it.

We have an escape artist in the house. The high-strung hamster Chloe, who has refused to calm down after a few rough days at Geneva months ago, has been constantly trying to escape. On Friday night, she got out and was running around Mom and Dad's room, which made me scream because two of the cats were watching her; we got her back into the cage, and we thought that her cage door probably wasn't closed properly, so we made sure it was. Last night it happened again. Mom was going into the utility room when she noticed all the cats in there surrounding something. She turned on the light and saw it was Chloe, cornered by a bunch of fat, lazy beasts. Her door had been closed, so we're not sure how she got out. There is a book on top of her cage to prevent her from opening the door, so hopefully the escape artist will stop, though I have no confidence that she will. I just hope she takes the hint that the cats will kill her if she gets outside, but I doubt it. Stupid animal.

Messy Aftermath

Well, Monday was pretty much a wreck with flooding all over Atlanta and its suburbs and rain on-and-off most of the day. Tuesday dawned sunny, and there was much rejoicing, as we hadn't seen the sun for days. Today is also sunny but cool (very fall-esque). But, the rain hasn't gone anywhere quietly. Parts of Atlanta were flooded under a few feet of water, as Seth and I watched on weather.com clips, though most of the damage was done further south. It grew closer to home when the small dam near Collins Hill and Taylor burst and washed out those two roads. One family from our sister church Chalcedon had part of their road collapse because of the rain, and another had a flooded basement. But the worse damage for us is at the church. The whole sanctuary except for the middle part was covered in water, as was the cry room and part of room 7, as I mentioned earlier. Well, the evil mildew has set in. The sanctuary and cry room smell horrendous (Mom had a headache from standing in the sanctuary for just ten minutes), and we had to have class in room 6 this morning because room 7 stank. Mom spent a lot of time trying to find someone to come in and clean the carpets thoroughly, but the businesses are swamped (literally) with people who have our same problem. In the end, we're hopefully going to get everyone to loan their fans to the church to dry the carpet out. Hopefully we can get the rooms to stop smelling before Sunday, as they've cancelled several events like prayer meeting and Geneva at Home for that reason.

Despite the floods, we were untouched. The worst damage was the mulch being moved from the backyard flower bed next to the deck to an unknown location somewhere else in the yard, and then the sewers nearly being flooded down the street. We're thankful that nothing major happened, and I'm thankful that we live on a hill.

Well, got to get back to homework. I don't have Bible class for two weeks because of us three students taking vacations at different times, but I want to make sure that I get all my reading done on time, as it'll be crunch time after I get back from Florida. Plus, after I get this reading done, I'm in a researching mood (thanks to Mr. Price's lecture on Monday) and so want to do more geeking out.

Rain, Rain, Rain

Can anyone say "rain?" I think the term "monsoon" would actually be more appropriate in these circumstances. It rained on and off some of last week, but last night was the real deal. I woke up in the middle of the night to the thunder and lightning with the rain coming down in thick sheets. I dozed for several hours, waking up when the storm was bad, falling asleep when it relented, then waking up again when it came back; Mom, Seth, and Mandy had trouble sleeping as well, though I'm not sure about Dad. It was a huge storm. Apparently it was so bad that Gwinnett County closed all public schools (which I think is stupid because the whole city shuts down at the first sign of a snow flurry. It's frankly ridiculous), though Christ College doesn't follow those regulations. We had classes as normal, though part of the church was covered in half an inch of water that spread from part of the sanctuary to the cry room and to the girls' bathroom and then also showing up as damp spots on the carpet in room 7, where Christ College meets. From what I hear, we've had ten inches of rain over the weekend and more is still on the way. Looking at the weather forecast on weather.com, we've got rain/ thundershowers for the rest of the day and up until Sunday... and we're under a flooding alert for Suwanee River (no clue where it is, but probably a couple of miles away). Needless to say, things are pretty ugly over here. Which reminds me... I need to take my vitamins, especially my D because the sun isn't shining.

I had ancient history class with Mr. Price (guest speaker on the ancient world) today, and I loved it. There is so much we don't know about the ancient world and the spread of man that the evolutionary theory completely misses out on and pushes away, calling it an anomaly and thus not important. The class gave me some ideas on what to research next, in particular regard to North America and why it never became home to a great illuvial river civilization like in Egypt, South America, India, and China they did. I'm going to do a little digging and see what I can find.

The Burn

We had a bit of a nasty scare on Wednesday, but God be praised that Mom is all right. She was making a casserole for dinner when she lifted up a pot of macaroni. Now, this pot, which we have used for years, has never had hot handles, but for whatever reason, one of them was very hot. Mom, startled, splashed hot water all over her left hand. She tried just about everything, aloe vera, cool water, etc... but her hand still hurt. It did not blister, but it just hurt badly. Mrs. Horton was so kind to come over at 10:30 that evening to let Mom borrow her aloe plant. Mom began to stress because she had Geneva at Home in the morning and she couldn't type up her lesson plans with one hand, so I became her scribe, more or less on the keyboard. Mom took some pain medicine, and then Mandy put in "Sahara" (one of Mom's favorite movies). Mom crashed out thirty minutes into the movie, and she stayed on the couch all night. She didn't go to Geneva at Home on Thursday morning, and she slept in until 10 AM, which is very unusual for her but in this case understandable. Her hand is all right now, and we're thankful that it was just a first-degree burn.

A funny incident happened yesterday. I had finished my morning classes and had gone to Costco with Mom and Mandy to get stuff both for us and for the church. We decided to drop off the snacks and supplies at the church instead of waiting until Sunday to do it. Because it was drizzling outside, Mom told Mandy to park on the grass near the side door of the church, and she did. Mr. Butler, Mr. Price, Rodney, John, and Ben were all watching us, and it was slightly embarrassing in a humorous way.

School's going fine. Seth is taking consumer math as one of his math courses, and he's not been enjoying it that much. This week, he was supposed to talk about stocks, so he turned to Mom and asked if he could skip that topic because of the declining economy. It was funny.

More Lord of the Rings

In the five minutes before history of philosophy class this morning, we four students and Mr. Butler had fun critiquing the movie and its poor choice of actors. The only ones Mr. Butler (a Lord of the Rings scholar from what I hear) liked in the movies were those who were computer animated. We made fun of their portrayal of (what I called) Frodo as a complete pansy (as Mr. Butler put it: "Oh, Sam" and then a shot of Wood's blue eyes on the movie screen), and it got some laughs. Ben C. got his "Lord of the Rings" jokes then left the room, as he doesn't take philosophy with the rest of us. I love the humor of this place.

Mandy is still in pain. They picked up a prescription for her yesterday, but she's still not her old self. It seems every time she goes to the orthodontist or some other tooth doctor that she comes home in pain. She's certainly looking forward to her braces coming off hopefully next spring.

On a related note, I think Fuzz is better. Last night, he climbed onto the book Mom was reading and began purring and rubbing himself against her. He also enjoyed a "love fest" this afternoon when I rubbed his belly and made him purr loudly. He seems back to his normal self, and the cat owner's 6th sense isn't there like it was last week.

Still haven't gotten the nanowrimo problem fixed, but I think I've got an idea for my story. It's something I've thought about before but haven't really expounded on it or anything. I'll need to do some research for it, but I don't read many of this kind of story so I'd like to see how that goes.

Oh, we got rid of our piano. We didn't use it for much except for stacking stuff on it, as none of us kids really took an interest in playing it though we all learned how. We gave it to Uncle Josh, and it now is in his basement. This weekend, we're hopefully throwing out the couch that eats people and laundry and getting one of Grandma Linda's. This means that now the living room will get re-organized, the carpet cleaned, and otherwise fall organizing done for that part of the house.

Nothing Much

Nothing much has happened since my last post. Fuzz is wandering still, though he comes home in the evenings to eat and sleep. Trouble came home last week and has been hanging around ever since then, which is rare for him.

College is going well. I did much better on my Bible quiz last night, and I have a better idea of what the class will be like. I also know how to operate the camera that the teachers use to record their lectures for long-distance students. I've ordered all my books but have yet to get any except the book for Bible class. I'm looking forward to the few lectures on ancient history because they will be given by Mr. Price, the one who really got me into ancient history with his lectures on the Ice Age and mammoths sailing through the air. On Monday, there was a hilarious comment in class. Mr. Butler was talking about western philosophy and asked us what "the West" was.

Mr. Butler: So, what is in the West?

Ben C. : Numenor?

Mr. Butler: Ok, Gandalf.

Inside Lord of the Rings joke, but we cracked up.

Well, right now I'm not very happy with nanowrimo (National November Writing Month). I signed up this afternoon in the hopes of handwriting a short novel of 50,000+ words between November 1st and November 30th, and now I can't access my account or even find my name. Not sure what's going on, as I was looking forward to coming up with a new story idea and then writing it albeit slowly. Maybe one of the forum members-going-to-participate-in-the-contest-too will have an idea of what's going on.

Can't chat long. Mandy wants to get on. With only two working computers now, there's a lot more comp sharing largely between Mandy and me. Speaking of Mims... she went to the oral surgeon yesterday to have one of her teeth uncovered, and she's been in some pretty bad pain ever since then.

Gotta go... little sis is giving me the look.

Trip to the Vet

Fuzz did come home again last night, still not acting like his normal self. Mom decided to take him to the vet, which was a cause of concern to me because the last time we did that for a sick cat we had to put him down. God be praised that this time it was not the case. We were riding to the vet's office when I noticed that something smelled bad. Mom informed me that Fuzz had a case of horrendous bad breath, so I held my nose until we got there. We arrived early but were able to see the doctor without any waiting at all because no one else was there. The doc looked into Fuzz's mouth, after several attempts to hold him still, and (feel free to skip this sentence if you are of a weak constitution) determined that part of his tongue was missing, like it was cut. I think he hadn't seen anything like it before, and we were puzzled as to how it happened. But, we did determine that the cut did cause an infection in Fuzz's mouth, giving him bad breath and making him lethargic. Probably also explains why Boo and Oatmeal, who usually like being close to Fuzz, haven't been with him for a few days. We got an antibiotic shot for him then picked up some flea stuff for the rest of the cats. I'm very thankful that Fuzz is ok, and I hope the shot works quickly. The cats, surprisingly, took their flea medicine well (except Socks), which was unusual because usually Boo and Claws panic at the first sign that they're getting it.

So while the Fuzz problem has been solved, there's another cause for concern. Trouble hasn't been home in over a week, and there's been absolutely no sign of him. If a cat is gone from the house more than three days, it makes Mom and me worried, and a week is too long. I hope he comes home soon.

I got my first textbook today for my New Testament survey class, and it looks like a fairly easy read. My history textbook has also been ordered, but the rest of my books are another matter. Later we'll try to order them, but Mom wants to make some comparisons between new and used first.

Classes were good this morning. Mr. Butler accidentally mixed up history and philosophy, so we had the classes in reverse order. We spent 30 minutes of philosophy messing around on amazon and half.com to find cheap copies of our history textbook, and then John, Mr. Butler, and I studied some population maps in the room, having interesting discussions about it.

Gotta dash. The Murphys are coming for dinner tonight, and we gotta get ready.

Fuzz

I'm a bit concerned about our brown-orange cat Fuzz. He was gone for a few days then unexpectedly showed up last night looking all scared, and he had something brown all over his nose (though when I touched it later, nothing came off). He ate and then settled down on the couch, where he kept shifting his position and sleeping lightly for the rest of the evening. Another odd thing is, he wouldn't stop purring. Fuzz, by nature, is a very lovable cat with a recognizable purr, but he was purring for a long time even when we weren't petting him or showing affection. When I gave him a little rub before I went to bed, he was awake but felt colder than usual, which he has felt before though it was only once a few months ago. This morning he wouldn't shut up meowing while I was trying to sleep, so I summoned him for some love, which he enjoyed before jumping down. When I woke up at 9:30, he was not in the house, so I guess he got outside again. Or he's hiding. He peed in the bathtub again (I know it's him. There was no pee when he was gone), which he only does when he's sick. So, I'm concerned about him.

I had my first day of classes at Christ College yesterday, and they went well. There are four total in my history of philosophy and in my western civilization classes: Ben C., John, myself, and a guy from our sister church Rodney. Mr. Butler teaches both of these classes, and he has a hilarious sense of humor and being politically incorrect. The only thing left for me to finalize is the financial payments, which I have one method in mind that I need to ask Mr. Butler about. Once that is settled, then I can buy the rest of my books. The public library system, I discovered, is a joke. I checked them out to see what books I could borrow from there, but only one out of nine could be found there. Barbarians... don't stock Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, or CS Lewis.

Well, I need to keep the laundry going. Mom and the kids are at the church for Geneva-at-Home and the science class that Mom teaches to a few of Geneva's now-homeschooled students, and I use this time to clean... and download music.

He Passed!

Seth passed the drivers' test! He now has his license. Good job, Seth!

Labor Day

Whew! What a day. I sure am tired. No staying up late tonight. It sure was busy today between the lake and the first night of college.

We arrived at the lake around 2:15 and originally planned on playing some games on a green area on the other side of Buford Dam. However, we quickly realized it was too crowded, so we went on the other side of the Dam to go swimming. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Not too hot and not cold either; quite pleasant, actually, and the water was not cold at all. It was a small group of people: the Price brothers, we three Cunningham kids, cousins Noah and Gabe who brought along their friend Bobby, and Ben Castle. The boys had fun playing "dead or alive" which requires throwing a ball and then catching it. It's definitely a man's sport, and Mandy and I moved to the sidelines to avoid getting trampled by the water buffalo herd chasing the tennis ball. After that, they decided to try a water version of wiffle ball that quickly failed so they moved on to other things. I took pictures and talked with John P. and Ben C., as we're all Christ College students. I got a few pictures of Mandy and Noah that if you zoom up on them... well, let's just say they're not very flattering and make Noah look like a vampire, even though he was just tormenting poor Mandy. Anyway, around 4 PM, we went to the Prices' house for homemade ice cream. Noah, Gabe, and Bobby got lost, so we spent a while trying to give them directions, but they're just not good with them. Dad arrived at 5 PM to pick us up, but Mrs. Price convinced him to stay for the peach ice cream. Oh, that ice cream was delicious! Then we drove home, where I had to dash into the shower and grab some pizza so I wouldn't be late for my class.

I arrived in the nick of time, a minute before class was to start. This is the New Testament survey class, basically an overview of the New Testament. Because it's only once a week, we have three hours of class time. I'm looking forward to getting into the material next week, and I know already that I'm going to be busy. I have to buy a book, read three chapters, and then read the book of Matthew by next Monday. And then I have to begin planning for a five-page paper that will be due within the next month or so, as the outline is due in two weeks. But, hey, nice way to start the new semester, with a bang.

Well, I have to order that book so I can get it to finish my assignment. My next classes are on Wednesday, so tomorrow I more or less have the day off except for knocking out some of my homework. Tomorrow, Seth is taking his driving test for his license, so pray that that goes well for him, as he's really been wanting to get it all summer.

Hunting

The game's afoot. A roach was slinking across the floor a minute ago but disappeared under the book case before I could grab Mom's shoe to put an end to it. I'm waiting and watching for it to re-appear (hopefully not on me) so I can stop looking around for it. I think I'll need a better hunter for this, but he is at Uncle Josh's house right now and won't be back for a little while. Maybe I'll spend the time killing that stupid gnat that's flying around my head. I really hate bugs. Except for the cute caterpillers, ladybugs, and butterflies.

School starts tomorrow evening at 6:30 PM, and I'm ready. I have my notebooks and pens, though I've yet to order one of my textbooks. Also, tomorrow we may go to Buford Dam at Lake Lanier as a "last hurrah" with some friends. Depends on if Cliff calls Mandy back tomorrow and the plan is still on by then.

Dinner with the Butlers

Yesterday was a bit hectic with preparing two meals and cleaning the house, but we made it. We had the Butler family over for dinner last night, and we had a wonderful time. Mom made grilled chicken kabobs, twice baked-potatoes, and rolls, while Mrs. Butler brought a salad. For dessert, there was a nutter butter banana trifle that Mom served in individual glasses. It was a lovely evening. Mr. Butler is hilarious, and I'm looking forward to having him as a teacher. The Butlers had to leave fairly early to get their kids in bed, but next time we'll try to have them over in the afternoon.

I turned in my application for Christ College this week and have figured out my schedule. I'm still staying with three classes because 1) I want to see how many I can handle and 2) because I'm still looking for work and thus want to leave my evenings open. No word yet on the job, but I'm hoping next week to find time (as this week was very busy) to talk to the night supervisor at Chick-fil-A. My classes this semester will be history of western philosophy, western civilization history 1, and New Testament survey (which I have with Mr. Horton while the other two are with Mr. Butler I believe). I'm getting really stoked about my classes. My first one is on Monday evening (because this class is once a week and not having it would remove one week of the class), but the school officially starts on Wednesday. Today I'm hoping to pick up a few school supplies (three notebooks and some pens), and I'm going to try to find one of my textbooks on-line today. As I said, I'm really excited about it.

Well, gotta go. Mandy wants a turn on the computer, and I promised her a turn.

Creepy

Ok, I officially hate cockroaches. I was sitting on the couch when I felt a tickle on my arm. I look down, and lo and behold, a roach is right there. I didn't scream, thank goodness, but I drove it off then sat on the floor to watch it climb up the wall. Now, bam, it's gone again. I think I'm scarred for life. First when one sticks its head out of a toilet bowl, and now with one crawling over me. *Shudders* Yeah, I think I'm scarred. And paranoid. With its disappearance (and the cats not saving my life by killing the massive thing), I'm feeling nervous and am trying to make sure it doesn't get close to me again. *shudders* Did I mention I hate cockroaches?

Pictures

Before I forget, here are pictures from our lovely garden. We ate some cantaloupe from it last week, and it was sweeter than we expected. However, now we have some fungus that destroyed the zucchini plants (which Mom says will give the carrots more sunlight to grow) and is working its way to the watermelon (which are getting nice and big with all this rain).

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101424&id=603748360&l=ab8a071c4f

Can You Say "Rain?"

I've only been home since Houston for a month, but I can certainly tell that this has been a very wet summer. It's been cloudy and raining since Friday, though I'm not complaining (and neither is Mom). Everythings looks nice and green, and Mom's carnivorous plants are loving being drowned in a few inches of water in their terrarium (they like lots and lots of water). The other plus is that it keeps the heat and humidity at bay. Sunny days often are hot, but there has been very little humidity, which is something that all Southerners must learn to live with, but I've lived in the South all my life and still hate it. This rain also makes me laugh at the memory of either last year or the year before (I want to say it was last year) when it was announced that Georgia was in the worst drought in several years and that Lake Lanier was drying up (though they failed to mention it was a human error that caused lake levels to plummet). All this talk of Georgia drying up just makes me laugh at how quickly the weather changes. Don't tell me that the world is warming up just because of a slight difference in the period of over a year; wait ten or, better yet, a hundred years then come back and tell me about trends. Idiots...

Poor Mandy's having a bad day, most likely because it's Monday and the start of a new week. However, she has a dentist appointment today (which she is dreading. I think Mandy has a fear of dentists while I have a fear of doctors because of past experiences) and in a few weeks has another visit to the oral surgeon to do something to her teeth, which she's not looking forward to. Poor Mims.

I think I've almost got everything figured out for Christ College. Classes start next Monday, which I'm ecstatic because I'm bored and want to get back onto a normal schedule like everyone else. No calls yet on a job, so keep praying about that. But, all I need to do is turn in an application to the college and turn it in soon. My first class will be Mr. Horton's New Testament class, which I'll be taking with Esther Bowman. I'm also going to take the philosophy class and the western civilization 1 class. Mr. Butler gave me a list of classes that I'll be taking, and looking at them, I'm getting stoked. They look really neat, and I'm ready to dive into them, but first I need to get the core classes out of the way, though there's not that many (as a clarification, Christ College has different core classes than normal secular colleges, but it requires a lot less of them). Nonetheless, I'm getting excited about next week and starting up again at a college where education is taken seriously and where God and His Word are also taken seriously.

Busy Saturday

Today's been busy. Dad is on his way back from Alabama, where he was helping Granny Kline move into her new apartment. Seth and Mandy went to Bethany G.'s birthday party and spent most of it doing a scavenger hunt, which involved them running all over Buford in a few teams. It sounds like they had a fun time, and it reminds Mom of the video scavenger hunts that she and Dad did with the Grace Bible Church youth group years ago when they were youth pastors. So while they were at the party, Mom and I cleaned the church and went to Wal-mart on the weekly grocery shopping trip. All in all, a good Saturday.

We think Mandy may have allergies. It's ragweed season, and her eyes have been bothering her lately, which Mom suggested may be the cause of it. I think her teeth are better because she's eating like a normal human again.

Well, Dad should be home soon, and that hopefully will mean a dinner either of teriyaki steak or fast food (it was suggested because we didn't think Dad would be home for dinner, but now it looks like he will be.)

Of Teeth

I love short visits to the dentist. I had one that was about thirty minutes long this morning, and it was lovely, except for that gag reflex that I so much hate. Next time, there will be x-rays, but I have six months to brace myself for that act of torture.

I do feel sorry for Mandy, though. She went to the orthodontist earlier this week, and they did something to her mouth. Now she's having trouble eating because her mouth is in pain. She says this is worse than having her wisdoms removed because she could still chew with her front teeth, but now she can't even do that. She's been hungry ever since then and has managed to eat some things. I think her mouth still hurts, but I'm not sure if the pain is going away or not.

Anyone Say Busy?

Busy busy. So much has happened.

I forgot to mention that on Saturday I went out with Blair to Mall of Georgia, as we hadn't seen each other since before I left for Houston. We had lunch and then walked around, talking and occasionally stopping in a store. I bought two things from Bath and Body Works (love that store!), some earrings from Claire's (a cute set of frogs for me and ones that say "dork" for Mandy... inside joke), and some socks from Gap while Blair bought herself a few shirts. It was a lovely time, and I enjoyed it.

Mom's laptop is being laid to rest. On Monday, Mom was carrying it to a kitchen counter so she could watch Law and Order: Criminal Intent while she made dinner (she does it frequently with other shows too, to catch up). I don't know exactly what happened, but the laptop fell and, as a result, has a badly cracked screen. Thankfully, we were able to plug in an extra monitor so that Mom could transfer all her files (college presentations that she was proud of, two years of Geneva at Home and Geneva work, and pictures) to various hard drives. So, the laptop may be out of commission, but we're relieved that all the work was saved, else I think Mom probably would have had a heart attack.

I babysat the Abraham kids for about half the day today, and last week I babysat the Presley kids too. I've still not received any word from my places of application, though I may try Panera soon if I don't get a response.

Still working out the details for college, but with my current unemployment, I'm getting a bit nervous. Even though Mr. Butler assured me that they would work with me financially and I don't doubt it, I don't have a steady income, which is beginning to worry me, but I have to remind myself that the economy is not good right now; I'm also reminded of the three men from my church who were let go around the same time about two weeks ago and how they have families to support. I wish I were less selfish and less of a worrywort.

Well, I've got things to do. I'm downloading ever elusive songs (why is most Celtic music so hard to find) and I've got to finish up this letter that I've been attempting to write to my former place of employment. I'm feeling giddy after hearing samples from my soon first-to-be on-line order: former Celtic Woman Orla Fallon's CD, which I should get next month. The samples sound great, and I'm chomping at the bit to listen to the entire thing.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Yep, Dad turned 42 today. We didn't do anything major for his birthday, but the highlight, I think, was the birthday dinner Mom made for him. Yesterday, she made a Cajun steak recipe with red reduction sauce and mushrooms, twice baked potatoes, scallops, homemade rolls, and then pumpkin pie for dessert (it's Dad's favorite dessert, and Mom always makes it for his birthday). Today, he also felt special when Mom made shrimp and orzo (a Greek pasta) for lunch because it's another one of his favorites, but it was a much less complex meal. I believe on Friday we may go out to eat at a restaurant for his birthday. We bought Dad a few small presents like some cigars and pipe tobacco (the stuff for his pipe smells lovely) and a water bottle that he can drink out of that doesn't make the water taste metallic. He's been using it since we gave it to him on Friday. We kids also gave him a funny card, which talked about different "dad" sayings like "when I was your age" or "what the___" with commentaries. It was really cute.

After Dad's birthday dinner on Saturday, we sort of had to rush to leave the house to attend a funeral for a woman from our last church who died recently. This lady, Esther Gregg, was a godly woman full of wit, joy, and love, and there were many wonderful stories about her life that people shared at the end of the service. She may not have done great things in her life, but she certainly will be remembered. It was also a nice time for us to greet some old friends from Grace Bible that we haven't seen in a while. Usually, in the past, there was some measure of tension or slight hostility that some people showed us, but Saturday night there was none of that. People greeted us with warm smiles, were amazed at how much we kids had grown, and asked how life was for us. Dad and Mom had the opportunity also to meet a couple of kids who had been in their youth group years ago who have all grown up (making Dad feel old... hehe). One of them, whom Dad has last seen when she was 17, is now 28 (I think) and a book editor; her last memory of Mandy was carrying her in a pack and tripping while holding her (I made a joke that it explained so much). All in all, it was a good evening.

And now it seems fall is coming quickly. Colds have been going around the church, and now they've passed to us. Mandy's eyes itched like crazy earlier last week, and Seth got a fever around the same time. I now have a sore throat, a bit of a runny nose, and a slight cough, as does Seth. We've been taking some doses of vitamin D to try to fight it off. It's sort of odd that colds are going around in August when I would expect them in a month or so. Maybe because this summer has been less humid and it's not been as hot as it has been. Hope this doesn't forbode for a cold winter.

Stupid Facebook

Ok. I enjoy using facebook because it enables me to keep up with my friends and peers. When I was in Houston, it was a primary way of communicating back home. Now, I can keep up with former fellow GGC students and friends that I made there but are unlikely to see anytime soon. Well, as you know, I like uploading my photos on facebook and posting links to them so I don't have to upload them here, which is a pain. Now it looks like I may not be able to post new pictures at all. Lately, facebook has become very advertisement centered. Granted, at least the service is free, but it's causing security problems on my computer. If I switch to a page different than my home page, then an advertisement (still unknown which one or ones it is) tries to hack past security and sets off my McAfee siteadvisor, which I like using before I go to unknown websites, especially if I'm having a geeking out session. Anyway, the advertisements are getting worse, and today I couldn't even get to update a few of my current folders or even make a new one. It's ticking me off because I really want to share the photos with my friends and family, and now I can't even do that. I've got a few last pictures of Houston (of the last storm that we had there before I left), new ones of my cats, a few of my perm (though the pics aren't very good), and the ones of the garden. Too many to upload here, and it takes too long anyway.

Well, my mind is scheming. I've got quite a few ideas for music videos to make, and I discovered my slideshow/movie software has the coolest stuff that would make the videos work. Here are the songs I've got in mind to do hopefully sometime in the future, though I'm probably forgetting a few:

"Heartless" by Kanye West
" Stupid" by Sarah McLachlan
" Sober" by Kelly Clarkson
" Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson

Job Hunting... still

I turned in two applications to Chick-fil-A this morning but was frustrated that I did not speak to a manager or supervisor. At one of them, a worker took the application and said she'd put it on the manager's desk. Every single job I've applied for in the past two weeks, the office manager or whoever runs things has never ever been there, and I think maybe I'm cursed. I decided to turn in an application to Kroger, but no Kroger in Georgia is hiring part-time workers. As I was more or less venting my frustrations a little, Seth turned to me and said that in this economy it's unlikely I'll get a job. I hope I do find a job because if I don't, then I won't have any steady income and won't be able to go to college because I've really been wanting to pay for it out of my own pocket, to work for it myself and not to have someone else do it for me.

I'm giving it a week to see if I get a response, though right now I'm feeling pessimistic about my chances.

Busy Bees

My, it's been a busy past few days. On Friday, I spent a few hours in the kitchen making chocolate snacking cake (it was meant to go to Dad's beer co-op but ended up as dessert for home shepherd group yesterday) as well as dinner of brauts and and macaroni and cheese. On Saturday, I accompanied Mom for grocery shopping and then to Kohls, where we both bought a few shirts. Then, I was in the kitchen for about an hour making herb bread, as Mom was making dinner to take to our friends the Roths, as Mrs. Roth is recovering from surgery and the church ladies got together to plan how to take meals to the family. On Sunday afternoon, I also made the famous pizza dip for home shepherd group that evening. I went to bed at a decent hour on Sunday night and was rudely awakened by Mom at 8 AM, but I slept until 9 AM when she got me up for real. I got ready, and she took me to the Chick-fil-A on Pike Street. I walked in and was greeted by friendly cashiers who went looking for the night shift supervisor, but I was told I could fill out an application on-line. Since I want to apply at two different locations, I have filled out two applications to turn in tomorrow since I didn't see a place to submit them electronically. Hopefully tomorrow the supervisor will be there.

I'm hoping to get a job at the Pike Street location because it looks like they're looking for workers to work at night. With college, that would be perfect: part-time college during the day and part-time employment in the evenings. And best of all, I won't have to work on Sundays. Figuring out a schedule will be tricky because I don't know my exact college schedule right now, but I hope I'll learn it soon so I can get this figured out.

That reminds me, college. I talked to The Butler yesterday after church. When I showed him my transcript, he said, " so it's a 3.92 (referring to my GPA)?" I said, "yes," then he answered, "sorry, we only take 4.0's." I felt my heart sank, and then I saw him grinning. Classes with him and his humor will be interesting, to say the least. Anyway, he said I needed 70 hours to graduate, and currently I have 50. This possibly means I only have 20 credit hours left of college. I also talked to him about what I needed, and I know I certainly need a history of western civilization class. Also on the list for me to take are a history of western philosophy, a class on the Westminister Confession, and then a New Testament class, which is taught in the evenings. Mr. Butler should call me later this week concerning the classes, and I'm hoping we can straighten it out so I'll know what hours to work.

Well, today Mom started homeschooling the younger two. They've been doing well, though it was funny that both did more than needed on their vocabulary assignments. Mom would have started college this morning, but she's not going because of Seth's double year of high school. Several of my friends and peers also start today or tomorrow. Dad starts teaching history on Thursday mornings to the Geneva at Home students, who start this week as well. It's going to be a busy year for all of us, that's for sure.

Application Results

Well, I made the phone calls today to two of the vets I applied at for work last Friday. It looks like I won't be working in a vet's office.

I first called one called Falcon Village, the one I liked the most. The receptionist there was polite but told me they would call me if I was hired; otherwise, it was implied I wasn't being hired. Then I called Riverside and was shocked at the response. The receptionist there was very rude and very unprofessional, stating blatantly that they weren't hiring and then saying "bye" before hanging up on me. I was shocked more at the rudeness than anything else. At least Falcon Village was polite and nice. This was just unprofessional and terrible.

Anyway, I'm not expecting to be called by the other vet because they said they weren't thinking of hiring anyone until the end of the month. I can't wait that long. I'm talking to The Butler on Sunday about my fall classes, and I want to pay for my classes myself by working. On Monday possibly, Mom might take me out to fill out applications for Panera and for Chick-fil-A to see what becomes of those. Pray for me that I'll be able to find a job soon.

Phone Calls

I posted a rant on Ramblings of Geek about overzealous CW fans.

The rant aside, today was fairly interesting. Mrs. Greer and Bethany came over for lunch and then headed to Homeschool Hangout with Mom and Mandy to look for good history books. With homeschooling starting next week, everyone's busy getting ready for another school year. Speaking of which, Seth made a big decision. He's a grade behind in school and normally would be a junior this year. However, he decided on Sunday night that he wants to get school over with and graduate when he was supposed to. Thus, Seth will, in effect, take his junior and senior year at the same time. It's double the work, but it's what he wants. He and Mom are buckling down for it right now.

With the girls off to Alpharetta for book shopping, I used the time to make a few phone calls. I ordered a Scottish dress for Mandy (an early Christmas present, she said) earlier this week, but Mandy was called and told that the credit card didn't work. I called to try to straighten out the issue, but I'm afraid that the order will have to be cancelled unless wachovia gets their act together. I'm going to call them back again and try to figure this out. Anyway, I called The Butler, and we have a meeting after church to discuss fall classes. So, I'm pleased about that.

Well, I need to call the bank and get off the computer because Mandy's back and giving me the look to get off.

Bread and Spiders

Mom picked a ripe zucchini the other day and decided yesterday to make some zucchini bread. Oh, it is delicious! Even Seth, a picky eater, likes it, which says something about it. Our garden is doing good. We've got cantelopes and watermelons growing in the hay as well as some bell peppers, some nice tomatoes (we've got a few different kinds in pots on the deck), and some green beans (also on the deck). Mom cooked up some green beans from the garden yesterday to go with our beef stroganoff, but she and Dad both agreed that they didn't taste that good, not as good as the kind we usually get though we're not sure what brand of green bean it is. I got some pictures of the garden yesterday, but I've yet to upload them.

I hate weaver spiders; I hate them. And now we have one that has taken up residence over the fern on the front porch. Looking at it gives me the heebie-jeebies. It reminds me of the time years ago when Mom and Dad watched a horror movie then went to bed and they stared at the giant shadow of a weaver spider on their wall (he had built his web over their window). Creepy stuff.

Well, enough of the creepy stuff. We're hoping to have the Butler family from church over soon so I can talk to Mr. Butler, headmaster of Christ College (he's known as "The Butler"), about my classes. We need to discuss how many classes I need and similar matters because Christ College starts up in early September sometime. I'm beginning to wonder how to manage college and a job (I've gotten no responses yet from the places I applied at last Friday) especially because Christ College is certainly not for the faint of heart (last year John Price wrote a paper that was about 30 pages long or so for one of his classes) and my classes may be up at our sister church Chalcedon (which is about an hour away from home). I pray this will be worked out and that God will show me how to handle it.

Speed Demon

I'm a speed demon. Mom and I were on our way back from going to the banks when she pulled over so we could switch places and thus allow me to drive. I took the long way, the one with lots of hills and curves, and I did good. I need to learn how to go around the curves better, but hey, practice makes perfect. The speed limit in our neighborhood is 25 mph... but I kept going to 30 mph then realizing my mistake then lowering it, only to have it go back up again. I think I've inherited Mom's lead foot.

Driving

Well, Mandy is officially "out of the neighborhood." Today Dad let her drive on the normal road, including the busy 316. He later said that Mandy drives a lot like Mom does. We girls went to see Megan T., who had knee surgery this week so Mom made her an oreo cheesecake, and Mandy drove on the way home. She sure sped around those curves. But I got to drive home through the neighborhood.

Last night with the cousins was fun. They watched "Iron Man," and then Dad and we girls (including Sunny) went to the Abrahams' house for a small party celebrating the Hortons' 4oth wedding anniversary. When we got back, the boys (including Christopher who had joined them) were watching "Jaws." After that, since they hadn't seen "Ocean's 13" we watched that. After breakfast this morning, they had to go. Nonetheless, it was a fun time. It was funny when Mandy decided to finish off some ice cream in a carton and ate it straight out. Gabe and Noah decided that Mandy needed an "intervention" and stole the carton from her. Mandy chased Gabe all over the house, and it sounded and felt like a herd of elephants. Mandy won, of course, but it was funny.

Tonight I watched the funniest thing. There is a family at our church called the Bowmans who work for Georgia Right To Life (a pro-life group), and two of their sons are aspiring filmmakers. For some time, they've worked on a film project which parodies "Iron Man" called "Ironing Man." They posted the trailer on youtube, and we watched it. Man, it was hilarious.

Job Hunting

Well, I went job-hunting for about an hour this morning. I turned in applications at 3 vets within ten minutes of the house. One said they weren't hiring at the moment but might later in the month, another didn't seem that interested, and the last one seemed interested when I mentioned a job in the kennel. Out of all the places, I really like the last one I went to. I'm giving the vets a week before I'll begin searching elsewhere, as there is a Chick-fil-a that will be hiring part-time workers this fall and Mom says Panera (a lovely sandwich place) is always hiring. So... we'll have to pray and wait to see what the Lord has planned.

Now back to work. The Josh Cunningham cousins (not the younger two) are coming over tonight for a last hurrah before school starts, and cleaning must be done. Plus I've got to find space for my scrubs and the stuff in the large basket that I have no clue where to put.

Poor Seth

Poor Seth. He's been looking forward to getting his driver's license today, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Mom woke him up early this morning to practice, and they left before I woke up. When I did wake up, Mandy was watching some episodes of "Lost," and I asked if there was any news on Seth's test. I learned instead that the car had died. Dad had taken the purple van so that Seth could take his test in Dad's car, and Dad's car died before Seth could take the test. Seth and Mom hitched a ride home with Mrs. Horton, but Seth was bummed out that he didn't get his license. But, he is happy because it will give him more time to practice things like parallel parking and pulling backwards into a parking space. The next opening for him to take it is September, but we're hoping that a cancellation will happen so he can take it earlier.

Nothing Much

Nothing much has happened in the past few days. At night, Mom and I have been working our way through watching the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy. Last night, it was "Two Towers," and tonight it'll be "Return of the King." Watching the trilogy is always good to get the story-writing juices flowing, and it makes me want to go back and re-read the trilogy again, as it's been a while since I last read it. But first, I'm finishing this book on ancient Ireland. I've also begun my second cross-stitching project. It's quite a project, as it's much different and more complicated than the apron, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.

My ringworm is getting a bit fainter, and I think it's getting better. Yesterday while at Nutrition Depot (the place where we get our vitamins and natural remedies), Mom and I asked the lady behind the counter what she recommended (the tea tree oil is fine, but it's taking a while). She opened a book and went on about some of the remedies. An interesting one was putting honey over the infected areas, cutting open garlic and laying it over the honey, then binding it all over with gauze. I might have to try it one day. Another recommendation was oil of oregano (the stuff works... really), so when I got home, I realized a little providence. In Houston, I had to buy soft gel oil of oregano capsules because they were the only thing the store had, which meant taking three on Sundays to get the full dosage. So now I have a whole bunch of softgel oil of oregano with no real use for it... until yesterday. I cut open the soft gels and let the liquid fall over the infected areas. Boy, did it tingle, which is a good sign that it's killing something. But then, if oil of oregano can purify sewage water, I think it can kill a fungus. I applied it twice yesterday, and I believe that it is helping. However, I can't explain it, but it only tingles on my left arm. On my right arm and my chin, it does not tingle or does it very faintly and not for very long. Anyway, I'm going to use the oregano pills as long as it takes to kill this infection.

Oh, yesterday I got my hair done. It has been permed and lost a little length, but it's cute. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll try to get a couple.