Yesterday was Veteran’s Day.  We didn’t do anything special.  I feel a little guilty about it.  As if anyone didn’t already know, we have a history-making President Elect.  Mr. Barack Obama.  I don’t care for his politics.  I didn’t care for John McCain’s either though.  I don’t really want to talk about it because I’m still not convinced it matters a whole lot who the national figurehead is.  I guess I just figured that it needed mentioned… briefly.

Moving on…

I cooked almost all day yesterday.  I got up and made myself some 7-grain hot cereal.  That doesn’t really count as cooking though… it’s just breakfast.  Then, I remembered that I bought a turnip recently.  I’ve wanted to try one for a while and now I have.  I really liked it.  I ate part of it and then decided to make some vegetable soup and add the rest of it to that.  The soup turned out pretty good.  Dad was somewhat apalled that I didn’t add any meat to it.  LOL! I had the soup for lunch and packaged the leftovers for lunches.  Then, I got to thinking that I’d really like to bake something.  I decided on pumpkin bread.  The recipe I had called for a small can of pumpkin but all I had was a large can so… we now have a TON of pumpkin bread.  It tastes pretty good though.  I think next time, I’ll add a little more cinnamon and maybe more cloves.  Then, I decided that I wanted to try making meatballs.  I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  My parents both ate some!!!  Mama even got extra meatballs after I told her there was a little bit of chopped onion in them! Yesterday was a good day.

Johnno took Dad in the truck to get rid of some of the stuff on the porch.  Awesome!

Then, Dad filled the gas tank!  The parent’s almost never put gas in the tank. 

Gas in the tank means I get to see Brinnon tonight.  :)  We’ve been seeing a lot of eachother lately and I love it.  I love him.  We’re not engaged yet but, we have gone to look at rings!  It was kind of overwhelming.  I’ve never actually looked in a jewelry store much because I always knew there was no chance of me wearing anything from a jewelry store.  I’ve discovered that I really like rings with a small stone on them.  The ones that have a carat or more just look like they’d catch on everything.  :P  Honestly though, the ring isn’t what matters.  I don’t care what it looks like.  What’s important is the commitment that the ring represents.  So, basically…

In less happy news, this bloomin’ cough just doesn’t want to go away.  The doctor said it’s bronchitis and gave me an antibiotic.  I took it as prescribed and got a ton better but then, things started going back downhill.  :P  To make things worse, Brinnon got sick too.  I know, we could have done things to make it less likely but, we didn’t.  I feel terrible about it because he hasn’t been feeling well at all for a couple of weeks.

I’ve been really busy at work this week.  I know, I had yesterday off but, other than that, it’s been pretty busy.  I love doing my new job.  I’ve been told that as of Friday, I won’t be doing any volunteer processing any more.  That means no more background checks and no more reference calls.  I’ve always liked the background checks but never cared for the references.  I can’t wait for our new training program E-Council to be up and running.  It’ll make it a lot easier to track trainings across the state. 

So, our new CEO is coming to the office today.  We haven’t met her yet but we’ve heard good things.  For the last hour and change everyone has been on a cleaning frenzy.  I’m not sure why, as the office didn’t look that bad to begin with but, I have to admit, it smells nice.  Heidi’s gone to get a cake that says “Welcome” on it.  I think that will be a nice way to start things off.  We have a rather long list of concerns that we intend to ask her about but we’re going to try to make the over-all visit pretty light.  I’ll post again once I’ve met her.  She came pretty highly recommended by Stephanie and I value Stephanie’s opinion so, here’s hoping.

It’s later and I met her.

I’m not quite sure what to think of her.  She seems nice, though she has a tendency to cut people off and talk over them.  Karen has a lot of plans and a lot of planning to do.  She only started last Wednesday so, I absolutely understand her not having a lot of answers.  She took a bunch of notes and looked ready to go.  Here’s hoping.

So, while I was not posting here, a lot has changed.

Work:

I’ve been hired as Bonnie’s assistant.  I really like it.  I’m organizing trainings and other such adult development stuff.  I’m still doing background checks which is fine, I really enjoyed that part of my old job.  We’ve lost some co-workers but gained some new ones.  Just yesterday, I moved into my new office.  It’s kind of nice to be out of the cubicle but I’m feeling a little isolated right now.  Eventually Crystal will be joining me in the other half of this office but not until they hire someone to do her old job.  Over all… thumbs up.

Church:

Church is awesome.  Our classes switched so I only have two kids in my class now.  It’s okay though, I’m praying that God will bring more in and I know it will happen in His time.  Next Sunday, Mama and I are taking the kids from both of our classes to the bowling alley for lunch and bowling.  I really want to ge the kids at church feeling connected to the kids in other classes.  I remember being a kid in Sunday School and feeling like I had nothing in common with the kids in other classes.  I figure if we can create good inter-class memories, it might make them feel more like a unified body.

Personal:

I’ve been dating Brinnon for a while and I’ve fallen in love with him.  I know that nobody is perfect but, I feel like he’s perfect for me.  Sometimes we go out, sometimes we stay in and watch a movie… it doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we’re together.  I’m not trying to be cheesy here… it’s just how I feel.  :)  I have been and will continue to pray about the two of us.  All those who read this, please pray for us.   Pray that we always keep Jesus as our focus and not just ourselves.

So, we had our state-wide all-staff meeting last Thursday.  My job is being eliminated.  If re-hired, I won’t know my salary until I’ve been working there for a month.  I’ll lose 9 days of paid time off per year.  I will no longer have a week off at Christmas.  I won’t have a supervisor in the same building as me.  I’ll have to pay part of my insurance premiums and I won’t get to do the job I love.  I’m trying really hard to see anything good in this re-alignment… I’m just not having much luck.  I’m thinking about applying to be a Membership and Marketing Manager.  People in similar positions right now are making roughly one and a half times what I make right now.  I’m also thinking about finding something part-time so I can go back to college.  There’s just way too much thinking yet to do.

I started my vacation with a date.  It was pretty amazing really.  We walked around the park for a while and talked.  Then we sat at a picnic table and Brinnon took out his guitar and we sang for a couple of hours.  Then we went to Golden Tent and had dinner.  Over all, a really nice time.

…

Two days later, we left for camp.  Every year, I seem to forget how long a drive that really is.  Six hours, sometimes seven.  It was worth it.  It always is.  I was so busy though, wow.  I was in charge of the KP list so, everyone just looooved me.  LOL!  It was alright though, I got everyone cheering for each server and dishwasher and table washer.  :)  Julie and I were also the preschool teachers.  We had everyone aged 18 mos. - 5 years old.  It was a lot of fun.  We also ran the canteen.  It was great, we actually had several teen helpers this year.  Last year, it was just Mama and me running it.  I’m not sure how it happened but, I actually pried myself out of bed at 4:30 every morning to light a fire so the children would be warm when they woke up.  It got pretty hot during the day but down near freezing at night.  Pastor Robert also had me lead a few songs and I got to teach everyone “Wrapped Up, Tied Up, Tangled Up in Jesus”  That was fun.  Then we drove the too many miles home on Friday.  I fell asleep after unloading the truck and woke up the next day.

…

On Saturday, I had another date with Brinnon.  We went and saw Dark Knight.  That was one dark, awesome movie.  Then we went to dinner at Chula Vista.  Also good.  He seems like a real gentleman.

I spent part of Monday babysitting for Julie and part on yet another date.  I actually drove up to see Brinnon this time.  We sang while he played the piano, then he cooked me dinner and we watched “The Italian Job”.  Pretty excellent “people being good at stealing stuff” movie.  I really like this guy.

…

Tuesday I helped Johnny with his math for… several hours.  Then I rented movies and watched them for the rest of the day.  I think “August Rush” may have made it’s way onto my Favorite Movies list.  What could be better than a family being unknowingly connected through music?  “Nim’s Island” was cute but I’m thinking it may be a one-time see.  “The Secret” is a great movie if you want to sit and cry for an hour and a half.  Yay for $1 movie rentals through “Red Box”!

…

I just had eleven days off in a row if you count weekends and I am ridiculously tired.  That many days off and I didn’t really rest except for half of yesterday. 

…

It’s good to be back at work.  My mailbox was really full and there are things to get ready for the big conferences.  It’s only 49 days until re-alignment and we still don’t know if we’ll be employed.   Realistically, someone’s going to have to fill the positions so, we will probably have jobs… it’s just… not knowing for sure. 

Last night was great!  The parents, John and I all met over at Dennis and Julie’s place for a potluck dinner and game night.  It was a ton of fun.  While the boyos were awake, we played with a beanbag toss game (we used plastic balls instead of beanbags though) and they had a blast.  After I tucked them in and read and sang to them, it was the adults turn to play.  We played Pictionary.  It was sooo funny.  We, the whole group, sang various songs while people were drawing.  That was the best.   We haven’t done much singing as a family in… years.   I hope we have another one of these soon. 

A Mathematician confided

That a Möbius strip is one-sided

And you’ll get quite a laugh,

if you cut it in half

For it stays in one piece when divided

- found at http://www.trottermath.net/humor/limricks.html

So, Jessica got fired a couple of days ago. I can’t say as I’m surprised but, I kind of wish I felt worse about it. I don’t wish her any ill will but, she was not nice to me. She tried (unsuccessfully) to get me in trouble more than once. I’m praying that she finds a job that’s better for her.

I came across the coolest thing: a math limerick!

( (12 + 144 + 20 + 3 Sqrt[4]) / 7 ) + 5*11 = 9² + 0 .

A dozen, a gross, and a score,

plus three times the square root of four,

divided by seven,

plus five times eleven,

is nine squared and not a bit more.

–Jon Saxton (math textbook author)

I found it here, http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts/ffiles/10001.8.shtml

Apparently, in the words of my father, all I need to do to find someone to date/marry is to “lower my standards”. Let me start by saying, I didn’t ask for his “advice”… nor did I want it. Being single at 24 may not be great but it’s not terrible either. As sad as it is, I don’t really have much in the way of standards. I want a living Christian male with a job. That’s it.

Living: I’m not budging on that one… it wouldn’t work.

Christian: I’m a Christian, I’ve dated non-Christians… it didn’t work.

Male: Yeah, not budging on that one either.

With a job: Things happen, people lose jobs, this one’s flexible if he’s actually looking for work.

As well as not being practical in my case, “lower your standards” should NEVER, EVER come out of the mouth of your father. Dads are supposed to be all “nobody’s good enough for MY daughter”. It would be obnoxious but at least it wouldn’t be hurtful. Yay Dad!