Churches

I've been to a lot of different churches in my lifetime, but only two, to my recollection, have made me feel genuinely welcomed. (I have posted links to both of these churches in the right column.) It is my hope and prayer that I learn from these churches, these people. As an introvert it can sometimes be very difficult for me to strike up a conversation with a stranger, but I'm working on it. Thank you WAPC and ROLWOC for reflecting Christ as one body and for showing the rest of us how it's done.

Musings of a Frazzled Tutor

School is officially at an end for the year, and all of my 8th graders made it to high school. Today begins my first week of vacation before I go at it again with summer school. I have no trips planned this summer, no vacations to faraway destinations... just working and playing and housesitting.

I played guitar on worship team by myself for the first time yesterday. (The other few times I've played, I've had another guitar player there to help me out since I'm new at all of this stuff.) I even led the first song, and for two weeks running, I've been able to sing and play at the same time. Harmony. Oh, yeah. Now I need to learn a new strum! ;o)

I've joined a small group Bible study, which meets Sunday evenings. The study is very involved, but makes me dig deep inside of myself to help me discover what's holding me back. Yesterday's study was rather difficult for me and actually made me cry. It was about the dreams we have for ourselves. It was about working to better ourselves now, instead of waiting to better ourselves when our dreams come true, which they may never. A harsh reality for me, but strangely comforting at the same time.

On the agenda for the rest of the week: visit a new church, pick strawberries and make freezer jam, worship practice, two hours of guitar class, worship practice again, work, hang out, have fun, enjoy life, love Jesus.

My Fingers Want Me To Chop Them Off

I started taking guitar lessons in December! I have now had three lessons, and have thoroughly enjoyed playing. (Although the fingers on my left hand don't want to play anymore.) Initially, my little brother told me he'd get me started playing, but after teaching me the E scale, he informed me that he'd "rather be doing something else". I happened to mention the conversation between my brother and I to a woman at my church, thinking it was a funny story, and not knowing that she could play guitar herself. Yes, she offered to teach me and I accepted, after my surprised, "You can play?!!" We try to meet once a week, but it hasn't always worked out that way. I don't have a guitar of my own, so I have to use my brother's (which I'm thoroughly grateful for), but it's not the best quality, and it can make even decent players sound bad if their fingers are a tad fatigued.

Churchy Music in Panic

I was recently (as in yesterday recently) asked to lead the music at church once a month. For an introvert like me, I panicked, had a moment of calm, then felt seriously ill for the rest of the night. This had been hinted to me a while back, so I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I was.

Of course all of these thoughts went racing through my mind, like "I'm not good enough" and "I don't even sing melody" and "I don't speak in public" etc. I have been given until Saturday to make my decision. I am actually interested in organizing the song service... that seems cool, but the rest of it doesn't sound cool. I feel overly stressed and very overwhelmed. Again. Introvert.

The woman who asked me to do this told me I needed to be stretched and do something outside of my comfort zone. Plus she said she'd been praying about this and I was the one who kept coming to her mind. Nothing like holy pressure. Also, she doesn't have a backup plan.

I haven't decided what to do, yet. I'm definitely leaning towards a big fat no.

Happy New Year!! ;o)

Rockband for the Wii

So my nephew got Rockband for his Wii. That's all we've been doing for five days running, now, playing the game. Fun stuff! That's all I have to report.

Two Posts In One Month

Since I work at a Middle School, and just because I feel like it, I've decided to read the Newberry winners. After perusing the list (that spans back to 1922) I discovered that I'd only read a few of the books. Hmmm... I took two of them home over the weekend, the one I'm reading now is the 2007 winner, THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron. Next I'll read 2005, KIRA-KIRA by Cynthia Kadohata.

So far I've read...

2003 CRISPIN: THE CROSS OF LEAD by Avi
1999 HOLES by Louis Sachar
1994 THE GIVER by Lois Lowry
1979 THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin
1970 SOUNDER by William H. Armstrong
1955 THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL by Meindert DeJong

Pages

So I've always been curious about how many pages I read in a week, so I started keeping track. As you can see already, I fluctuate greatly in my reading habits. (See right column.)

I MISS YOU ALL!!

Day Off Things.

Today, Saturday, is my only day off from work. I have to keep reminding myself that I can get a car if I keep my second job. Car! Car!! Car!!! So what have I done today? I went shopping with Ikuho. We went to lots and lots of stores, and back again to some of them. Who knew that barbie pajamas were so hard to find? (Not for me. Don't worry.)

We went out to lunch, which was nice and relaxing. Mexican food hit the spot today and it'll be doubtful that I eat dinner tonight. I'm so full! Still! My big purchases of the day consisted of cereal, crackers, apples, a birthday present for my brother, and maybe something else, I can't remember. Big spender, eh?

So Michael came down for his birthday the other day. We went out for a drink at a local establishment. I made him come and pick me up since I still have no wheels, but when he got here there were about five cars parked in the driveway. Heh heh. ;o) It was only a mile out of his way, right? Of course, it was HIS birthday.

That's about it for my update.

Bribery.

Bribery is an interesting concept. You bribe someone to get what you want, or someone bribes you to get what they want. The bribe itself must be greater than the desired thing, or the bribe wouldn't be worth it to the person being bribed.

I was confronted with two bribe attempts in the same day last week. The first bribe offered me (at the middle school, of course) was $2.00 and a bag of corn nuts if I would give said student access to a hall pass anytime he wanted. My second bribe of the day was $5.00 for one answer to a homework question. I will let you wonder whether or not I took the bribes. ;o)

The Usual Things.

I went back to work yesterday for the first time since Poppy passed away. It went well, I did okay, and I'm back again today. (I have a feeling this is going to be a day-by-day process for a while.) Tonight I go back to my second job for the first time. This is the one I'm worried about because it's so public, so we'll see.

I'm starting to watch more movies than I have been, if you'll notice my list on the right. ;o) I like movies. Movies are nice. ;o)

Twilight.

Alright, so yes, I've read TWILIGHT. Probably a year ago, my friend Angela recommended this vampire series of Stephenie Meyer's creation for me to read, but I honestly had forgotten about it. Then when I was at the Cinema watching 'Prince Caspian', a trailor for 'Twilight' was shown and something clicked: "Oh yeah! I was supposed to read that book!" Soon after, I picked up the first book in the series and read it in two days.

It had been quite a while since I'd read a book so quickly, let alone something that thoroughly kept my interest. Since there are only a few books in the series, I decided to wait a while before I read the second book, 'New Moon', which I read while on vacation in Maryland. Again, I finished the book very quickly. I'm torturing myself by waiting to read the third book, but at the same time, I don't want it to be overwith in a couple of days.

"It’s the safest time of day for us. The easiest time. But also the saddest,
in a way… the end of another day, the return of the night. Darkness is so
predictable, don’t you think?" --Edward Cullen, TWILIGHT

Poppy.

I don't know if anyone reads my blog anymore or not, but someone asked me yesterday if I'd blogged about my niece yet, and I told them I hadn't. So here I go.

If you haven't heard, my 13-month-old niece Poppy passed away on Saturday. It was a tragic accident that has devastated all of us. I will honestly say that it was pure torture sitting around, waiting five days for her funeral to take place; none of us went to work this week. Poppy's funeral was yesterday; it was the hardest thing I've EVER had to do: letting her go, but I did. I felt at peace afterwards, and I think most of us did. I'm not finished grieving; I am still extremely sad and miss her so much, but I know she is safe.

Poppy is buried under a baby tree, fairly close to her uncle Michael, my nephew's dad, who passed away when he was 19 years old. Michael was never able to meet his son, so we're all glad he can watch over Poppy for us until we join them someday.

Be at peace, Poppy Josephine. I miss you.