Bored and Broke

Another Tuesday has come and gone (well, not quite gone yet; I still have two more classes to get through). Today being the start of my second week of the semester was a little more relaxed. The numbers in the parking lot are being to die down (not quite as many vultures hovering over you as you walk to your car), and we are just starting to get into the real material in our classes (not so much boring review stuff that I learned in 10th grade). We had a quiz in Physiology which I did alright on. I got a little confused on what she was looking for on a couple of questions, so I probably pulled of a 4.5 out of 5. My professor was really mean about the quiz though. She was saying stuff like, "If this is hard, you should drop the class," "this all should be review and if it's not, you need to drop the class sooner then later so others can add the class." I guess it is good of her to say that so people know what they are in for, but I don't anticipate many people dropping the class anytime soon.

My Latin America class was boring as usual (I forgot to mention last Thursday's class. My professor - who is in his 70's and wears hearing aids - came to class dressed as a Spanish Conquistador. He went through the whole lecture pretending he was a servant to Queen Isabella of Spain back in the 1400's. Sounds kinds cool right? Wrong!!!! The class was terrible. All he talked about was island hopping and running into cannibals throughout the Caribbean. The only fun part was he looked like an idiot.) Needless to say, this class was 10 times less exciting the Thursday's class. Dance was fun/funny because we actually started to dance. Well, we did turns. We learned how to spin around in a circle on one foot. Super exciting. The last minute of class we jumped around like fools following the teacher; Great fun! Nothing to report on my Drama class other then I get to see WICKED on March 15th (yeah, that's a Thursday night so I will miss youth group that night Ryan!)!

And now I get to sit and wait. The only thing that sucks more then sitting and waiting is being broke and sitting and waiting. There is so much to do down here from going to the mall to even catching a movie, but I can't because I am a poor college student (do you hear that violin playing in the background there?) On the plus side, I got a lot of reading done. I am a slow reader naturally, but give me required reading and you can almost bet it won't get done. Thankfully, Ryan lent me a couple of books to help me procrastinate my school reading a little while longer (thanks Ryan). He gave me Letter to a Young Evangelical by Tony Campolo and Starving Jesus by Craig Gross and J.R. Mahon. As much as I love a lot of Tony Campolo's stuff, I decided to start with Starving Jesus simply based on the fact that it had a cooler title and cover (there were other reasons to this decision; it was smaller, it was paperback - hardcovers intimidate me -, and it was written by the founders of xxxchurch.com.)

So now I get to sit and wait (and write in my blog). I am attempting to make it through the night without my triple shot, so we'll see if I make it home tonight.

One Day, One Room

As many people know, I have my "shows" that I get pretty into throughout the year: Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls, and on occasion Scrubs and Smallville. The one other show I am particularly fond of at the present moment is House with Hugh Laurie. Normally Dr. Gregory House goes about diagnosing wild illnesses in patients that no one else is able to diagnose. However, this last week's episode was super deep. Since I can't give you the full rundown of the last few seasons of how House came about, I will give you the short half. House's boss, Dr. Cuddy, lied to the court saying he wasn't addicted to pain killers to keep him out of prison. To pay her back, Cuddy orders House to two days of nothing but clinic duty. Being the jerk that House is, he tries to find ways out of it by paying off anyone willing to leave, ordering unnecessary tests for a man with a cockroach in his ear... typical House stuff. Cuddy pulls him back into her office, desperate for a solution. She offers House $10 for every patient he can diagnose without touching. However, he will have to pay her $10 for every patient he does have to touch. So House starts plowing through patients without touching any of them.

The test results come back from the earlier STD patients, and the first two are clean. The third is a 20-something blonde female named Eve who tests positive. Eve breaks down in tears at the news even though House reassures her that Chlamydia isn't all that bad. House tries to hand her some pills, but Eve yells at him to not touch her. House goes to tell Cuddy to get a new doctor for this patient. Eve has been raped. Cuddy explains to Eve that the hospital will assign another doctor, but Eve insists on House. House says that he isn't interested in treating her because there is nothing to treat. She is perfectly healthy. Eve doesn't care, and only wants to talk to him

House waits for Eve to awake and he asks her what she wants. She only wants to talk to him - about anything. House goes to his team for advice, and they suggest he give the girl his conversation. Everyone gives him different advice which leaves him about where he started. So, House and Eve discuss where they went to college. House still gets no answer on why Eve trusts him. She inquires whether anything terrible has ever happened to him. He says that he was abused by his grandmother. His parents traveled and often left him with her. She was a strict disciplinarian. House never misbehaved when she was around because he was too afraid of being forced to sleep in the yard or of being made to take a bath in ice. He never told his parents.

Eve asks if any of his story is true, and House assures her that it all is. She again asks if it is true. House replies that it is the truth for somebody. House says, "These things happen, what do you care if it happened to me?" Eve then says, "But they are not in this room." House, "No, they're out there. Are you gonna base your whole life on who you got stuck in a room with?" Eve, "I'm gonna base this moment on who I am stuck in a room with. That's what life is. It's a series of rooms; and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are."

This really stood out to me and really made me think. Is that what life is really like? Is life just a series of rooms? I know for me sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes when I talk to certain people, I feel like it's just us in a room together and all that matters is that one moment we have in that room. It's hard to explain. Let me know what you think about this great philosophical look at life. Do you agree or disagree? Do you have any examples of this happening to you? Maybe you don't want to talk about it. Maybe it was just One Day, and One Room.

Wired

So, the title really isn't for Wired Magazine, it's just because I am wired on caffeine right now to get through the rest of my classes. Today was my first day of the spring semester (actually, I really shouldn't say was because it still is).My first class started at 8am, Human Physiology. The material sounds really cool and I will totally get into it, but the professor is totally monotone so I will definitely need to drink my big thermos of coffee before I go into that class. My next class was Survey of Latin America. This professor is super old and is requiring us to read 5 books over the course of the semester (I don't like required reading!!!). My next class was Dance. Now, if most people reading this know me pretty well but for those of you who don't know me, I CAN'T DANCE. I can sing and keep rhythm pretty well that way, but make me move and it's like I have two left feet. So that class will be interesting! My next class was Plays and Players. Basically we go see about 4 plays throughout the semester and write critiques and discuss in class what we liked and didn't like. We have to watch three CSUN productions and one professional production. Our professor thought it would be cool for us all to see Wicked. Any class that requires me to see Wicked is pretty darn cool in my book (Mom and Dad, really I have to see it... it's for school...). Between 1:45 and 4:20 I have a huge gap in which I find stuff to do (homework, shopping...). Since we didn't have any food in the house last night, I decided to explore Northridge, Reseda, and the surrounding area a little more. I ended up at Whole Foods market where I picked up an AMAZING sandwich for dinner. I also picked up a triple shot chai latte at Starbucks to get me through my last two classes. So now I get to wait until my professor arrives (my class is supposed to start at 4:20, but there was a note on the door saying he could be as late as 5 today). All in all school as gone fairly well. I'll let you know how the rest of my day goes after my three shots of espresso really kick in.

It's Over!

Well, my long vacation has now come to an end. Spring semester starts on Tuesday, but I am pretty ready for it. It's been fun laughing at all of the people who had to go back to school super early, but the laughing is now over. I am getting way to comfortable not doing anything. Work went really well this week. Mason is finally getting better. He still has a stuffy nose, but it's not as bad as it has been.

Have you ever had the feeling that you are all alone in something. I don't mean physically, but sort of emotionally I guess. I have kinda been feeling this way last night through today. I know that I am not alone and it's kinda silly to feel this way, but I have been kinda struggling with one of my Jr. High girls who is going through a lot of bad stuff right now. I am almost at a loss of what to do. All last night I was up worrying and praying that everything will work out according to God's plan, but it's still so hard to let go and to focus and lean on the people around you for support. I dunno, I'm sort of rambling right now because I can't really put into words what is going on in my head. But basically if you could pray for my Jr. High girl that would be great. She's not a Christian at all and she is just going through so much stuff and could use a lot of prayer.

Well, since it is Sunday and I have a big week ahead of me, I thought I would include some prayer requests for this week.

• Like I said before, school starts this week. Please pray that I will be able to get back into the swing of school. Pray that I will be able to handle my Tuesdays (basically I have class from 8am to 9:30pm; then I have to drive home).
• Again please pray for my Jr Higher girl. I can't really explain what's going on, please just pray that she will be ok and that I will know how to help her.
• Please pray for me and this unexplainable feeling of loneliness. Pray that I will not go into this semester with this feeling because that usually sets me up for a pretty depressing semester.

I think that's all. I know there are many more, but those are the only ones that come to mind. I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

I'm Back!

Well, I'm back! I survived another youth trip and I am so tired! It all started Saturday night around 10pm. All the kids came and spent the night at the church because we left were leaving at 4am on Sunday and we didn't want to have to wait for people. Needless to say I got maybe 1 hour of sleep that night and woke up to drive for some 7 hours to Sierra Summit.

The first couple of hours were tough because everyone in my car was out like a light bulb in June. After breakfast I woke up and was ready for the rest of the trip. I only hit one patch of black ice which scared the crap out of me, but we all made it up there safe and sound. Sunday was pretty warm sitting in the sun, but it got cold as the sun went down. A couple of girls (both named Taylor) went up with Jake David (it was their first time snowboarding). Jake ditched them and they ended up riding back with ski patrol earning them the wonderful nickname of "Ski Patrol."

The rest of the trip went really well. No major injuries; just some bumps and bruises. Driving home was super funny. Jan and his friends Austin and Sean were in my car and they spent most of the time mooning the other cars in our group. They actually made me miss the offramp from the 5 to the the 126. Then they all yelled at me for missing it and I missed the next offramp too. It was a pretty wild night and a pretty wild trip. I have so many more funny things that happened, but I am exhausted from this weekend and I need to get some sleep. But I am back and we are all safe. Thank you for all your prayer!

Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy

So I was trying to think of cooler titles for my blogs and I tried to think of something that would describe my fairly simple week (hence the title). So the week started out normal. Monday was nice. Samantha had to do some stuff in Ventura so I had Mason to myself most of the day. Monday night we met with the new leadership team for Community which I believe was very productive. We'll see if we accomplish all that we discussed at the meeting.

Tuesday was pretty chill. I basically sat at home doing nothing until I went with my Mom to her OVS soccer game in Santa Barbara. Wednesday was alright. Samantha had one of the girls from the office come over to pay bills. It was a little strange having someone I don't know hanging out in a house that's not mine, but she was cool. Poor Mason can't seem to shake this cod that he has. He now has a narsty cough in which he gasps for air. It's super sad. But Samantha's mom came into town on Wednesday night to watch Mason while Samantha and Hellmuth went out of town for their anniversary, giving me Friday off.

So my week was pretty much over as of Wednesday. Thursday I drove down to Northridge with my cousin to show her around the campus. I was able to pick up two classes worth of books (that would be 6 books for $175). It was nice to hangout with my cousin again. But that was it for the week. Today I'm just hanging out and doing nothing. This weekend is the snowboarding trip so that should be pretty fun, but for now everything is just easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Weekly Prayer Requests

Well, it has definitely been a while since I posted prayer requests. It's not that I haven't had any, it's just that I have had a lot less because school is out and I basically go to work and church (so I am kinda praying a lot anyway). Just as an update, I started my new job last week. It went really well and I am getting more used to it now. Wednesday I met Hellmuth (that would be Dr. Billy's first name; he's Icelantic) and he was very nice. Hellmuth's mother was in town Wednesday through Friday and she was very nice as well. I guess she was raving about me to her friend which made me feel good.

Friday was nice because Samantha had a Dr's appointment in Santa Barbara and she waited down there to pick up her step kids. So she was gone most of the day and I got to hang out with just Mason. It did kinda suck though because he had a fever the entire night before. He was better when I got there, but still a little fussy from his long night. But now we start another week and here go the prayer requests.

• Please pray that this week goes well with Mason. He has been fighting off a Sinus infection for the last couple of weeks so please pray that he will get better soon.
• Everyone in my family has had the flu over the last week or so. Please pray that my immune system won't fail me now. I really can't afford to get sick.
• I am going on the Snowboarding trip next weekend with the youth group. Please pray for everyone going to be safe and that there will be no major injuries. Please pray for all of the drivers (I might be one too; we'll see) to be safe and to have wisdom and patience as they drive.

I think that is all I have for now. School starts in two weeks and I am sure I will be having plenty more prayer requests then.

Slacker

So I was surfing the internet today and I realized I never posted how my new job went (or is going because it is still going on). I thought that I had written about it but really it was just an email that I had written to Amber about my new job. So I apologize that I have been kinda a slacker lately with my posting. So here it goes with the new job info:

Monday I started my new job with Mason; he is the son of Dr. Billy and Samantha Billy. He is six months old and is huge! No joke, he is wearing 12 month clothes and they are almost too small! But he is cute and he is kinda fun. The first day was a little bit awkward; just because it's a new family and I really don't know them that well. Samantha hung out around the house because she is trying to catch up on 6 months worth of house work so that made it a little more awkward but it turned out to be fine. Mason is not as mentally developed as Dalton was/is so it is a little more difficult, but it's fun. He likes to be held (remember this is like a 20+ lb. kid) a lot so I spend a lot of time in the rocking chair. He also loves the Teletubbies so I have already memorized an entire DVD; fun soup! Anyway, I am just kinda working and hanging out now. I only work three days a week now so I have just been hanging out on Tuesdays and Thursdays until school starts. So pretty much, I've just been being a slacker this week and this will probably continue for the next two weeks until school starts.

Change

Today I was reminded just how much I hate change! Today was my last day watching Dalton which was super sad. It's just sad because I have watched him grow from this tiny little 8 week old baby with two thumbs (on his left hand), to a 7 month old little boy with one thumb. He's now crawling (well, more like scooting on his tummy, but he's getting around), sitting up without any assistance, and is just all together super fun (listen to me, he's not even my kid; just wait until I have my own kids). I mean, I know I will probably see him around and Alia said she would probably call me for weekends and stuff, but still; change sucks! It didn't help that Dalton was super sick and fussy all day. But change happens and it has to; otherwise things would get too boring.

So I start my new job on Monday with Mason (it's just a trial period but I have to make this one work). I am still on winter break which is nice cause I get to relax a little bit more and I am not spending nearly as much money on gas so it's nice; yet amidst all this relaxation, change still happens and today's was tough.

Crazy Morning (kinda gross)

Well, well, well... It has been a while since I wrote last. It's kinda funny, I only seem to write when something is going wrong lately; but this morning was super fun...

So here's what happened; This morning I work up to Toby whimpering in his crate so I got up and let him out. As I let him out of his crate I noticed a ton of vomit all over the inside of the crate. I let him outside and cleaned up the crate and his blanket and his bowl. I didn't feed him because I wanted to watch him for a little while and see what was up. I then noticed that he... how do I put this... was struggling to have a bowel movement. I talked to my mom and found out that he had gotten sick the morning before as well. So I took him to the vet to see what was going on.

The vet wanted to take some x-rays just to make sure he didn't have anything stuck in his intestines. So I waited in the waiting room for a half an hour for the x-rays and to make a long story even longer, Toby had eaten what appeared to be some gravel or something of that nature which had blocked up his colon and made his stomach so upset. So the doc gave us some special food that I have to feed him 4-6 times a day along with two prescriptions to give him three times a day for five days, or until he passes whatever the heck he ate. After that fright I am now $400 in debt to my parents and I am freaking out cause now I know I have to take this new nannying job in order to make some money (In case you didn't know, I got offered a new nannying job for a doctor couple that live in Rancho Matilija. They have a 6 month old boy named Mason and the wife, Stephanie, is pregnant with another. I met with them on Tuesday and we are going to have a trial period starting next week so you could pray that the trial period goes well and that if this is what God wants me to do right now that it will work out.) So that was my crazy day. If you could pray for this whole job sitch to work out and that I can catch up financially.