Congratulations to Meet You

I love the book I'm reading right now. It's called "Eat, Pray, Love", about a woman's one-year journey of self-exploration. She journey's first to Italy, for pleasure, then to India, for spiritual-enlightenment, then Bali, to find a balance of both. I don't agree with the author, who is a firm believer in God (good) and that there is NOT just one way to him (not so good). However, the narrative voice in the book stirs something within me. Her incessant need to see the world, and more importantly, interact with all the people therein, is a calling I can relate to.

Her journey starts in Italy. As I read this part of the book, I am overcome with envy. The woman takes 4 months to do the following: eat and talk. Good Lord, that would be awesome! (Actually, I kind of do that now, I just don't do it with a purpose). She is learning Italian, which she calls the most beautiful language in the world. I concur. My favorite word she explains in her book is "atrevesiamo" which means "let us cross over" in Italian. It's a term that is used when crossing the street, but more poetically, it can mean that it is time for two people to move on from a certain situation, fight, or period of time. My second favorite word has to be "Apetsi" which means, loosely translated, "my little moron."

She then goes to India, happier and 35lbs more heavy. She lives in an Ashram, or a temple/dorm/thingy. (This is also where a sweet Hindu man greets her every morning with "congratulations to meet you." Here is where I plan on stealing some of the information that she shares and applying it in my life. First and foremost, meditation. When we say that word, we think Ohm, buddhist and hindu statues, and weird orange robes. Actually, meditation is a spiritual discipline in Christianity, and it is found in almost every religion in one form or another. So, here is my quest. This is my Spring Break, for the the next 5 days, I am going to start every day in 30 minute meditation. She describes meditation in detail, and I am going to be selective in which parts I will do. (I understand that this isn't how it's supposed to be done, but that's alright). First, I will remain utterly and completely still. I will fail at this, but I will try. Then, I will remain utterly and completely silent. At this, I will MOST certainly fail. For it's mental silence as much as it is verbal. I plan on praying to the Lord, then remaining silent, waiting on His voice. I like the way she put it. "Prayer is the act of talking to God, meditation is the practice of listening." Wanna take a wild guess on which one I'm better at?

I'll be blogging daily, so you can feel my failures and (hopefully) small triumphs with me.

And now, atrevesiamo.

Fieldtrips are like wedgies, you can't control it, and you can't fix it in public. Did that make sense?

Fieldtrip day!
We're going to the Children's Muesum of Houston, also known as every educators heart atttack waiting to happen. And when you have deaf children, you travel with EXPENSIVE equipment. (I once estimated how much the technology in my room is worth (a audio tower, 3 microphones, 9 hearing aids, 2 Cochlear Implants) and I think it would be around $120,000. Geez.
So if I survive the day, I have to clean and do laundry tonight so I can pack tomorrow for Oklahoma! I'll be going to Scotti O's house in Chickasha first, then onto Tulsa a few days later. Yay! I'll get to see my besties, and my family, who I haven't seen in 3 months. I'm pumped.

Updatechalater!

Woe is me... right?

Things are tough all over, aren't they? They are in Houston fo' sho'. Mostly money woes. Now tell me if this isn't the picture of insanity: I get all upset about how much money I've spent, so I go shopping. Makes a ton of sense. In High School I used to say "Giving away money is like giving away your problems." Easy to say when it's NOT YO' MONEY. I bought 60 dollars worth of books yesterday. Did you catch that? SIXTY DOLLARS. And no book was more than $6. Yes, that means I got a ton of books. Time to "get literate." Maybe with more reading, I'll be a better writer, and stop saying things like "fo' sho'" and "not yo' money." Then again it's mostly historical fiction, so my writing could get really weird really quick.

I have 5 more work days, and then I'm out of here. I'm driving to Chickasha first (holla' if you want me to stop by and see you) to hang out with Scotti O. Then I'll be making the very short trip (in comparison) to Broken Arrow. I'll be very glad to be home. And I'm glad my mom and I 86'd the trip to Branson. Apparently it's simply an entertaining rest place for the old and infirm.

Lastly, I would like to share with you my "sustaining song." I've felt very powerless lately, even in my own life. And when I sing this song to myself, I am reminded of One who is all powerful. Read the lyrics. Sing it to yourself. Tell me if you don't feel the same.

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Do I have a sign on my back?

My dog is a gonner. I'm gonna kill her, and explain it nicely to the ASPCA. When they hear what she did, they'll condone my actions. It's completely justified.
This morning, we go outside, she does her thing...twice... and then we head back in. I go in to the bathroom to finish getting ready. In the reflection of the mirror I can see she's sitting on my bed. Then, I see what she's doing...she's PEEING. ON MY BED. Her nastiness got on the bedspread and my "5th Grade Rocks" Tshirt that I had just laid out. I may have freaked out a little. And she may have gotten the spanking (on her nose) of her lifetime. And she may be banished to her kennel for the rest of her life.
Then, I got in my car, and my favorite pair of jeans took their last breath and walked into the light. Split. Right down the inner thigh. You've GOT to be kidding me.
I got a Light N' Fluffy from Smoothie King. He's the only one who understands. (the king, that is.)
Yorkie-Silky-Evil-Terrier for sale. Any takers?

Whoops

Ah, we meet again. Once more, I have started a blog/jornal/project, and left it to sit in it's decaying remains until I noticed it again. Whoops. Not that anyone really reads my blog, but it's nice to think that I have a following of highly educated and rather good-looking people hanging on my every word... words that I haven't shared since last September.
So, things are pretty good for the most part. Still live in the Hovel, still chase Lucy around every morning, still teach 5th grade deaf ed. Not alot has changed, except the people. I hang out with a much different crowd these days. Mostly people from my church that I don't find condescening or hypocritical. These people are real. They love Christ, and they love people. Therefore, I love them.
My two best friends got married. One to Mr. Perfect-for Her, one to Mr. Better-than-You. I'm still besties with the best friend who DIDN'T marry the narccisistic control freak. The other, well... what can you do? Nothing. Sit, wait, and be a safety net for when all hell breaks loose.
I am so, so bored with life. Do you ever get that way? I'm a natural vagabond (and no, there's not a negative connotation to that word... it simply means that if i sit still too long, my butt starts to itch). Stay in one place doesn't suit me well. I need to get out of the Hovel. Onto bigger and better things... hopefully that include a yard (which I will never mow, by the way). But I am a poor and lowly teacher. A house would require one of two things. A roommate, or a husband. Since roommates are usually easier to live with, I choose the former. However, I know no one who a.) needs a roommate as well, b.) wants to live outside the loop, or c.) who could stand living with me. Let me know if you know of such a person. I'm fairly sure they only exhist in the stories of Brahm.
So, hopefully it wont be 6 more months before I post again. But, I can't promise. Tell your friends.

If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all

This weekend has sucked. I mean, it's been bad. It had it's good moments, but overall. Geez. Ok, so friday we go hang out with "the boys" at their house, it was fun.. met some new friends, and had a great time. However, what came of that, was that my badge was stolen. Not lost. Stolen. Geez. So I have to call tomorrow morning and get it deactivated. Along with it went my room key. So, that was bad. Very very bad. THEN... saturday night we had "the boys", nicknamed Dandrew (darren and andrew), over to see "Knowing" (AWESOME movie... till the last 20 minutes, then you want your money back). People are banging on the door across the hall from me, then they come and bang on MY door, asking for a phone, asking if the people that live in that apartment are there, etc. Are you kidding? There's a woman there who is shady beyond all shady, and is for sure under the influence of something other than coffee. Earlier on Saturday, Beth was coming up the stairs, and was stopped by a guy from that apartment, and was told she needed to go audition to be a stripper. For real. Then the same creepy man followed Ashley and I up to my apartment and just watched us go in. SOOOOOO.. back to Saturday night. That same man bangs on my door (Andrew keeps answering, thank goodness), and asked if he could borrow one of our cell phones. Andrew politely says no. The man says the guy who lives there owes the strip club money and needed to pay up. There is a large group of men hanging out down the stairs of my apartment, all of whom had cell phones out. This just keeps escalating. Finally, Andrew looks at me and says "Pack your bags, you're staying at our place." So Ashley and I get shoes on, I pack a toothbrush and lucy, and we walk downstairs, where we see 6 Houston PD cars strewn across the road, and there is a FOOT PURSUIT going on.. a cop runs by us with his hand on his gun. Great. We high tail it to the truck, jump in, and take off. Ashley is scared. I'm just really really mad. I felt like going up to that group of men and being like "Take it somewhere else! I wanna go to bed!!" So we stayed the night at Dandrew's and I've been exhausted ever since. Gah. Baaaaad weekend. Lord, please let me have a good week, and not have a nervous breakdown. I'm not handling stress very well, am I?
P.S. As of today, i've lost 30 lbs. :)

Well, I'm back. I'm doing better with food, and I'm feeling good about life in general. My next big step is to not eat out. I am limiting myself to eating out only twice a week. That includes soda stops. It's going to be really difficult, but it's the next and smartest stop. Some days, I'm amazed at how little, and how healthy, I eat. Then there are days where I am pissed at myself for consuming too many calories.
I am sooo ready for school to start next tuesday, and get this show on the road. I have a full class, 8 students, all of whom are VERY different from the others. I am so much more prepared, and know exactly what I'm doing and what I want to see happen in class. Should be a great year. I really lost my mojo for writing, so, till then.....

Mandy