Overheard.

From the files of "Isn't It Fun To Work With 18-Year-Olds":



Employee 1: Jim, I like your new 'do! What made you do it?

Jim: Oh, I lit my head on fire this morning. I was trying to light a cigarette.



Ironic, considering said retail place features a gen*ius bar. Maybe it's supposed to be funny.

Hello, New Blue Friend

This morning we went dumpster diving again to see if we could recover anything. We didn't find anything except for the cop who helped us yesterday when it all happened. That was a weird coincidence and quite comforting, too, as she was really great about everything. I had lost the slip of paper with the case number and detective's phone number so she gave it to me again and we came home.

I worked on our taxes and my financial aid form for much of the afternoon and then decided to grieve actively. Sewing is meditative for me, and I need a new purse anyway, so I sewed up this blue friend. He's blue because I'm blue.

I especially like the inside-- blue bubbles with a ticking striped pocket.


Perhaps my favorite part of making a new purse is the ceremonial transferring of stuff (wallet, chapstick, etc.) from old purse to new purse. It was when I realized I didn't have those things to transfer that the tears began flowing.

This whole thing just hurts. I have bad words to say about those people, and I have said some of them. But more than just being annoyed that I don't know my drivers license number to write on the financial aid form, I am angry that my husband, who so desperately needs to rest, is instead outside at 11 pm still vacuuming out shards of glass and taking apart the car door. Instead of relaxing tonight he has come in to check on me with blood on his fingers. Instead of having a day of rest we are picking up pieces literally and figuratively. And instead of being ready for the week I feel beaten down and violated. And so I cry out to God-- why did this happen? What can I learn from it? Please won't you protect us more? Please heal our hearts and bodies and restore us quickly.

RIP, Little Pink Purse

Pardon my french. It has been a hell of a day.

After a busy morning of weighing in at Weight Watchers (I gained, ugh), then running around buying a birthday present for a friend, I dropped Brad at home and went out to meet said friend, Ashley, for her birthday lunch. We had a lovely time together, she loved the present, and then we went for a walk at the slough nature preserve, my favorite peaceful place when the weather is as nice as it was today.

We parked our cars, I took my keys and phone and put my purse in the trunk. We were away from our cars for 45 minutes exactly. I think you can finish the story yourself.


When we got back to the cars there was a cop car nearby and numerous people standing around writing on clipboards. I walked toward my car when a man stopped me. "Don't touch your car. It was broken into and the cops need to dust it for fingerprints."

I called Brad who came over immediately. Another cop arrived to help with the seven people whose cars were broken into. Whoever did it broke windows and jimmied some locks and only stole purses-- no GPS systems, stereos, etc. Bastards.

After filling out my report we waited as the nice sheriff dusted the car for fingerprints (not much success) and then Brad got as much of the bits of glass as he could off of the seat. We decided to check a few nearby dumpsters as there's a low-ish income apartment complex across the street. No dice.




We decided to just go home and make the necessary phone calls to the banks and credit cards. But then I just felt like checking the dumpsters at the nearby Walmart. We drove around back and I peeked into the dumpster. I spotted a passport-- that was weird. People don't throw their passports into the dumpster, I thought. Then I saw some credit cards, library cards, social security card, and other such things. By George, I had found someone ELSE'S purse. I called the cops who came over and looked at it. Brad had to get into the dumpster to get everything out as the cops "can't get into a dumpster" (grrr, so what will they do if they see MY purse in a dumpster?). We gave everything to the cop and went home.

I called the bank (24 minutes of being on hold before getting a live person at Bank of America. Seriously. They get an F in customer service.) and canceled my debit card and credit card. Then I called our evening employment to ask them to stop payment on Brad's paycheck which he had endorsed and I was going to deposit on my way home. I also ordered a replacement drivers license and AAA card online. Should only be about a week until I get some identification back.

We decided to go ahead with our fun dinner plans. I found a good review online of a restaurant for which we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon and thought we might enjoy a little adventure.

When we got inside we found that it was a buffet, and since it was 7:30 all the food was old, crusty, and nearly gone. We left and headed for a safe and predictable dining experience at Uno's.


We got off the highway and headed down the exit ramp. There were two lanes of right turn lanes, both having a red arrow. The traffic was coming from the left at a pretty good clip when the guy next to us, in the left lane, decided to turn right, directly in the path of an oncoming car! The driver of that car navigated well and tried to swerve to not hit him, but there was no way to avoid it. The cars bumped like bumper cars right in front of us as we yelled, "NO! NO! NO!"

I called the cops (for the SECOND time today) and we followed the cars onto a frontage road to assess and give our witness. The guy who pulled out in traffic was an elderly gentleman who, with his wife, was on his way home from a family wedding. It seemed he just had a little trouble seeing the car coming. The other driver was a 17 year old college freshman who was on her way home from doing a community service project. Neither was hurt, thankfully, so we left after about 25 minutes of waiting for the cop and five minutes of talking with the cop, who was incredulous that we didn't want to eat at the Amazon Grill, but suggested the white pizza at Uno's.


It is very good to be home, finally. I am sad to have lost my dear pink purse, the $120 in cash inside, the more than $200 in gift cards, my personal information, and the innocence and bliss of a nice, peaceful afternoon. I am annoyed at the time and cost of replacing the window and trying to match the tinting of the other three. I am hurt that there are people in the world who do mean things to others instead of acting with love. But I will recover, and things could be worse. For now I need to cocoon and just be safe at home with my sweet husband, and block the nasty, mean, dangerous world out for a bit. What a day.

No monkey sightings...

...but I have a fantastic batch of banana bread in the kitchen. We bought a handful of bananas to feed the monkeys but never actually found them. We were a bit short on time as we got a late start and then had to get to a funeral. But at least we have some incredible banana bread. Remember how it always sinks in the middle? This time it didn't! It's amazing.

So Friday I didn't sub as the school district was off. I got some things done around the house and then got a phone call just as I was getting ready to do some school work. It was my official offer from the fruity computer store, and when could I come in and sign the paperwork? I left about a half hour later and they had me stay until closing, watching training videos online. I'm hesitant but excited about it. They have me on a fast track to doing some one-on-one training since I have a teaching background, and I'm glad about that. Sales on the floor isn't really all that appealing to me. But Brad is a superstar at it and loves it, and it fills my heart with glee to see him that happy.

Saturday we slept in and then went on a wild monkey chase. Then we went to the memorial service for the mother of a friend of ours-- Kubby was the drummer in the worship band at the first church we were part of here, and his mother had a double aneurysm two days after Christmas. It was great to see them again, but it was just a very sad occasion. We came home and took naps (told you we were sleep deprived!) and had a late dinner and went to bed.

Sunday we went to the Vineyard, which we're contemplating leaving. It's a long story, but we're just trying to figure out where we fit in best, and what is most important to us. Each church has its flaws, we know, but some flaws are easily overlooked, and some are just plain offensive. We're slowly trying to figure this out. After church we had lunch and took naps. Again. And then had dinner and went to bed.

And today we have enjoyed a day off. I've been studying statistics as I am still lost and the book is a terrible teacher. I also have 42 homework assignments to grade. I'm making headway, but this is a bit difficult. I'm also seriously considering going to grad school in the fall, for a seemingly silly reason. Every time I watch School of Rock (Jack Black), I see Joan Cusack as the head of school and my heart skips a beat. That's what I want to be! I want to be a head of school, specifically a girls' school. We caught a few minutes of the movie on tv last night, and then I dreamed about visiting my former students at the first school I taught at-- a girls' school. It just makes my heart beat and I want want want to be there. Trouble is, my time is maxxed out just making ends meet. And chances are slim that I will have free graduate credit hours this fall (just found that out, ugh). So it is up to God to make this happen if this dream is from him. I will apply for financial aid, I will take a job at a public school for more money (even though I will hate it), I will do what he leads me to do. Anyone have any advice about going back to school?

We're about to leave for work-- 5:30 - 9:30 tonight. At least we're together, and it's actually really enjoyable. The people there are all very young and full of energy (they couldn't understand why we didn't want to go to the 10 pm movie on Friday night) and they keep us awake and alert. Can't complain!

Feels like home to me

Today is cool, high of 81, a little humid after this morning's rain, and gray. We get only a handful of gray days down here and I just really love them. Everything is subdued and calmer than normal, and I just want to cuddle up on the couch with Brad and watch netflix. Which we will do tonight.

I spotted this colorful thing on campus today: a red-leafed vine climbing up a tree. Most leaves are green all the time, so a rare red leaf caught my eye and, combined with the gray sky and cooler temps, it made me feel like I was at home. Nice warm fuzzy feeling.

In other news, we learned today at lunch that there are wild monkeys in Florida. I'm not even kidding. A sociology prof was microwaving her lunch as Brad and I were eating at an adjacent table and she mentioned that she had been out watching the monkeys yesterday. "In the zoo?" I asked. "No, down in Naples. There are three of them and people say they've been around for fifty years," she replied. (!!!!!!!) Brad and I are going to check it out this weekend. She said that they live in a protected natural area right near an old folks' home, and that they are tame and like to eat bananas, grapes, and peppermint candies. There are also a lot of them in central Florida somewhere, like fifty or so. We're definitely going to investigate. Bowmans, we're thinking if this works out it could make for a fun outing in March. :)

Forgive me, readers, for I have, well, been absent.

I've been thinking of you, I promise. But things are busier than ever right now. School is back in full swing, and I am pretty happy with my Monday through Thursday schedule. Mondays and Wednesdays have five classes (ugh) but Tuesdays and Thursdays have only three each. I've also figured out a new system this semester: instead of doing lecture recaps, which means five lectures some days, I'm doing no more than 10 minutes of example problems, and then the students are working together on worksheets. The worksheets are exactly like their homework and quizzes, so they're helpful to the students and I only have to do a little talking when they ask me questions. It's working out better and I'm not quite as exhausted as I was in August. It's still a little rough on my introverted self, but I'm getting through it.

I also am subbing on Fridays at the close-by high school. It's about 5 minutes from the house and the school day is from 7 am until 2 pm. Not too shabby for an extra $100. And I just had a successful interview at a particular computer store whose logo is a fruit. (I'm going to try to keep all references to a minimum so as to fly under the googling radar. I won't disclose any secrets, so if you've found me, know I promise to behave.) Anyway, I'll be working there alongside Brad, who has been there since mid December. He really likes it, and I'm excited to start. Though an evening job is tough on the energy level, at least we'll be together. I'm going to try to work toward being a trainer of sorts in their individualized computer tutoring program. It sounds realllllly cool to me and seems to fit my giftings. Our current dream-of-the-week (everybody needs one) is to get on full time with them in the next two years, and then move and help them open a new store somewhere in an exotic location, like Ireland, or England, or Finland, or Australia, or Canada, or anywhere in the Midwest. Ok, so it closely ties in with our dream to get the hades out of here, but at least it's more positive and focused, instead of whiny and flailing. We shall see what comes of it. For now, we are terribly grateful to have these jobs and that we enjoy them. And they make our budget balance, which is a rarity in this town, this state, this country, this economy.

We're also starting training for the Theophostic Prayer Ministry class we took last fall. It begins tonight and runs every Tuesday for about a year, I think. There's a DVD series we'll watch, a manual we'll work through, and then about 8 months of group experience where we'll work through some of our own lies and observe others' work as well. At first all the training requirements seemed like overkill in my opinion, especially since I've been on numerous prayer ministry teams before without a year of training. But this is different, and because its goal is to help a person go back to their childhood or adolescence and dig up old hurts, the facilitator has to be trained to know what to do when really bad things come up, or nothing comes up, or the person freaks out, etc. Without training I could do more harm than good. So we begin that tonight.

Which means life is busy around here! We leave the house around 6:45 or 7 am to go to school, leave there at 4:30 for the fruity computer store (not fruity in the sexual-preference kind of way, goofball), work 5:30 until 9:45, get home at 10:30 and do it all over again. (Disclaimer: Brad is the one who has been doing that schedule for a while now. I will begin it soon. Up until now, my evenings have been free and easy and full of laundry and bills.) That will be Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesday is Theophostic night. Thursday will be go-to-sleep-early night. Weekends will be lots of sleeping.

All of this is to say, if you haven't heard from us in a while, please don't be offended. First, we're both horrible correspondents and it's a wonder any of our far-away-friends are still our friends. We were astounded that we got any Christmas cards at all! Ok, that's an exaggeration. But we know we're bad at keeping in touch. Second, things are just busy. But we will work harder at it. We do love you and miss you horribly.

There's not a whole lot else to tell you, I think. It's a rare cool day here with a -gasp- windchill this morning!!! I think the high is 68 or something, so people are all bundled up in fleece and coats. Go ahead, laugh away.

Oh-- we have made a few travel plans for the summer. We'll be in Columbus May 16 or so as my cousin is getting married in Cincinnati that Saturday. Columbus friends, we will want to see you! And Chicago friends, we will be in town in mid August-- the weekend that covers the 15th or so. We will want to see you, too! I'll get in touch closer to those dates to arrange meals (ahem, Donato's and Massey's, stock up) and visits.

I'm off to meet with a Stats professor for whom I teach. I haven't had stats since that unfortunate summer school class at Trinity with the psychology professor who was obsessed with sex. That was a joy of a class, so I promptly forgot everything I learned. Now, ten years later, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm faking it pretty well, though.

Happy Birthday, Sissy!

This crazy lady turns 26 today!

Happy birthday to my funny, strong, determined, silly, driven, hilarious, thoughtful, kind, loyal, caring, free-spirited, random, organized, creative, wonderful sister! I love you so much, Floopy!

Not so subtle

School is back in session as of today. I love this job, and although
I'm still bleary-eyed from the 6 a.m. alarm, it's energizing to be
around college kids. And there's something about the rhythm of the
school year that I really like. The kids are fun, too. The girls are,
just like in August, dressed as little as possible. I swear, the
cleavage is staggering. All these perky bosoms are enough to make a
not-as-perky 31-year-old feel ancient and saggy. And the guys can't
get enough of it. They're all full of hormones, just like in
September. New semester = new crop of girls to ogle. Some guys are
subtle, some not so much. Last semester the winner of "Most Offensive
T-shirt On The First Day Of School" went to Mr. "Don't Worry, I Always
Pull Out." Seriously. On his t-shirt. This semester it goes to Mr.
"I'm Not A Gynecologist, But I'll Take A Look." Who makes these
shirts? Goodness. And it's always the guys who I would bet my lunch
haven't seen action in, oh, say, ever. But they want the world to
think they have.

Mothers, don't let your babies grow up to be these guys.