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.