If airfares are too expensive...

...just dream that you took a trip!

I had the most wonderful dream last night! Usually my dreams are weird and somewhat disturbing, but last night was a nice break and was totally a gift from God. I've been feeling burned out lately, working lots of hours and dealing with difficult families (parents of students in our tutoring company). It's hard to put on love when families show an air of entitlement, attitude, etc. They're getting free tutoring, no charge at all, and can't act grateful or even show up sometimes. It's frustrating, especially since the state requires particular attendance rates, etc., in order to pay us. Anyway, it has been frustrating.

I'm also a bit burned out from teaching at the university. I have the same class 8 times, which is a dream to prepare for but boring by the second class. This burnout has been causing me to re-evaluate where I want to go with my life. Do I really want to pay a zillion dollars and work my tail off to get a masters in education? Do I want to just go have babies and forget careers for a while? (I know-- pick up your jaw off the floor. I'm turning 32 next week and the clock ticks louder. Yes, I think about kids.) Do I want to go into counseling? Pastoring? It hasn't been a swirly tornado of wondering, but definitely something I've been pondering. If I don't like education anymore, which I know God gave me before, what do I do?

Then last night in my dream I was interviewing for a job at the first school at which I taught in real life-- a private girls school in Baltimore. I loved my time at BMS, loved my students, loved my colleagues. I didn't blog then so I don't remember the negatives, the stress, the down-sides. I know it wasn't all easy, but I remember liking the challenge and the atmostphere a lot. In my dream I got to visit with old friends, former students who had all grown up into lovely young women, share hugs and tears with colleagues who were going through hard times, and then interview for a job there. I remember wondering if Brad would like Baltimore, and if we would find a church there. It was so very real!

And so very happy. I woke up this morning with a renewed energy and renewed focus. I do love education, teaching, children, the energy of the school day and school year, the little mold-able minds, the sweet hearts yearning for attention. I love girls schools, I love private schools. Such a happy morning. Such a lovely trip!

In other news, Brad is completing course 2 of 5 this weekend. His compliance program is 5 courses, and he is finishing up the second. Three to go, Love! You can do it!

Jiminy Cricket is still living in our attic. His chirping is intermittent and we've almost learned his sleeping schedule. Apparently the TV wakes him up, as he likes to chirp loudly (over the living room now) when the TV is on. I read online that the lifespan of crickets is 6 to 8 weeks. We're counting.

The weather is turning a bit cooler now, and we're loving it. We haven't walked every night, but the cooler air beckons loudly. The Miata is getting a lot of use, and the roof has been down a lot. Such a nice treat after a very hot and humid summer. It still gets hot at noon, but the mornings and evenings are delightful. It's so funny-- up north the winters were depressing and sad. Down here the summers are that way for me. I did find out that SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, does vary by region. Makes sense-- the nasty hot summers down here make me cranky and unhappy, and the temperate winters are my happiest time. (Want to visit?)

And last night I experimented with a healthier pizza recipe! I used Brandon's pizza crust recipe and tweaked it a bit, and made our own pizza sauce from a Chef Boy*ardee copycat recipe (we love that sauce, but it's just full of junk). Here's my recipe, partly for you to try if you like, partly so I don't forget it:

Crust:
3/4 c warm water
2/3 t sugar
1 t instant yeast
1 c wheat flour (next time I'll use 2/3 c wheat)
1 c white flour (next time I'll use 1 1/3 c white)
1 T olive oil
parmesan cheese

Sauce:
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 t oregano (maybe 3/4 t next time)
1/4 - 1/2 t Natures Seasonings (in the spice aisle- no MSG in there)

Toppings:
Boar's Head pepperoni, sliced or diced
lots of parmesan cheese
Scant covering of Sargento Mozzarella and Smoked Provolone shredded cheese. This is the best pizza cheese ever.

Preheat the oven to 425 and make sure the pizza stone is inside on the bottom rack.

Make the dough: dissolve the sugar and yeast in the water. After a minute or so throw in the flour and mix with a fork to form a ball, adding extra flour as needed so it's not sticky. Pour olive oil over it and turn to coat the dough; let sit for about 15-30 minutes to rise and rest.

Mix up the sauce so ingredients can marry. Let sit while the dough rises.

Press dough into an oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with parmesan and bake on middle rack until you see some brown spots, about 5-10 minutes.

Top with sauce and toppings. Be liberal with the parmesan but conservative with the mozzarella. Slide onto hot pizza stone and bake until it looks good to you.

Wheat in the crust, plus homemade sauce, makes this healthy. Right?