Back to School

It has been another crazy month with school starting back up and jobs in full swing. Brad started his class last week-- Interviewing and Investigation, with a book on interrogation which is fascinating so far. This keeps him busy about four nights a a week with lots of reading and online response. I started teaching again last week with eight sections of beginning algebra full of freshmen. So far the t-shirts have been more subdued than last year's, except for the girl who likes to wear her "Ms. Naughty" t-shirt, or the one who proudly proclaims, "I have a HONKY TONK BADONK A DONK", whatever that means. Ah, kids. They make me laugh. It's fun to have the energy back on campus, even if it's a little exhausting. We've built a handful of new buildings in the last year and the campus is growing super fast despite the budget crisis. Did you know Florida doesn't have income tax? Only sales tax. Which means in the years we don't have hurricanes, we lose a lot of our government's budget because of the lack of sales tax from repairs. Twisted.

I'm also working for a tutoring company as a second job, coordinating tutors in two counties (!) in low-income schools. It's a wonderful company with extraordinary vision, founded and run by educators who put kids, instead of the mighty dollar, first. However, it's still fledgling and it's hard to be part of its growing pains. It's very much a reactionary position, where you know I like to plan and be proactive. I am grateful for God's provision, but it's a dang stressful extra 25 hours a week on top of teaching 30 hours a week.

So we are getting by. Life is somewhat stable, there has been some interest in our house but nothing definite. We are in a bit of a holding pattern there.

Outside of our little family, things have been rough this week. Please pray for my Aunt Joan, who recently lost her sister and just last week lost her husband, my Uncle Jack. Joan and Jack have lived in Phoenix as long as I've been alive, but made the trip up to Muncie, Indiana, every Christmas, braving the cold and sending big boxes of presents. Jack's life is best described by the movie A Beautiful Mind; he was a brilliant but tortured PhD whose mind was not kind to him. He died unexpectedly last Thursday morning. I'll be flying in to Chicago tomorrow for services at Joan's family farm in Warsaw, Illinois.

And last night I received a call that my godmother, Auntie Kathy, (my dad's side) was in a terribly car accident. She was in my late uncle's (Kenny passed two Aprils ago) 69 corvette (or some year like that), stopped at a light, when she was rear-ended by someone going 60 miles per hour. She is at Mass General in Boston undergoing tests. It appears she will survive, though she has bleeding in the brain which is causing significant memory loss.

I think it's a good time to take the time to say I love you, to connect with loved ones, and to make the most of our lives. We only get one ticket, one ride. Am I making the most of it?