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.

The Weekend

My, what a busy weekend. And quite a busy week ahead too. I posted a rant on my ramblings of a geek, and I might post another one soon too.

The party on Friday was very nice. We had the Price brothers, Christopher, Ben, Noah, Gabe, Sunny, and Noah and Gabe's friend Bobby. We enjoyed burgers and hot dogs along with some chips, fruit salad, pizza dip (which was a quickly devoured appetizer), and fried potatoes. After dinner, some of us sat down and talked while the others went outside to play wiffle ball in the street. When it started getting dark, everyone went inside, and the general consensus was to watch "School of Rock." After the movie, the party was over. All in all, it was a wonderful time to get together with friends and peers. I only took a few pictures, and none of them are spectucular or anything like that, so I doubt I'll post them.

On Saturday, I relaxed most of the day and read some more of my Irish book. I found it fascinating that the nobles in the early days lived in houses on artifical islands, and the possibility that the Irish aren't Celtic in blood but only in culture was very interesting and begs the question: then who are they? Sounds like another geek-out session in the making. On Saturday afternoon, we girls went to Kohls to use some gift cards that came in the mail. Mandy bought a few things, but I couldn't find anything that fit. It reminds me why I hate clothes shopping even though I like buying new clothes. I'm trying to think of ways to lose weight; my goal would be what I was before I started college, before I suddenly gained a bunch of weight last year.

On Sunday, it was lovely to be back among the church body again. Several people welcomed me back, and I received some suggestions on how to battle my ringworm from Mrs. Doster (now if I could only find the hydrogen perioxide). It was even better because potluck was after the service, so I had more time to talk to my new friend Esther Bowman. I discovered that she might be going to Christ College in the fall; we probably won't be in the same classes, but it'll be nice to have another female schoolmate because all the students currently are male. Another Christ College student told me he was looking forward to me coming in the fall, which made me more excited about it. To tell you the truth, I never felt really attached to GGC. While I made friends there, it never felt like a college that I could say "I'm going here, and I'm proud of it." I guess I was always looking forward to going to Christ College and thus never saw GGC as my home college.

Anyway, we've got a fairly busy week up ahead. Mandy is going to the oral surgeon today I guess to get the stitches removed and to get a general check-up on her mouth. Tomorrow, I'm getting my hair layered and permed. Wednesday, I might or might not go bowling. Then Friday the cousins are coming over to spend the night as a "last hurrah" before school starts.