Making Things Better

While re-reading an old journal of mine (2002). I came across the following entry:

"What one thing can I do that, if I did it on a regular basis, would make a positive difference in my personal life? Meet new people."

"What one thing in my professional/business life would bring similar results? Planning/organizing"

The first answer has changed since '02. Getting out and doing things I enjoy would be my current answer. I have found that when I am having a good time I invariably meet new people. No one wants to be around a depressed or negative person.

The second answer still holds true. I fear that getting organized may prove to be a life long pursuit.

Things I Now Know

Just a few things I have recently accepted.

1. The self-cleaning litter box that cost me $164.00: A BIG WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Not only do I teach any child the public sends to me, but I also cannot expect the things I say and do to be protected from public scrutiny. My pastor was right...The words we speak and the things we do have incredible power and reach; therefore, we should govern ourselves accordingly.

3. The end of a close friendship can be like the end of an intimate relationship: Sometimes you have to do some housekeeping and get rid of traces of the person in order to move on.

4. Friendships: The "best" friends are the ones you can travel with. It really is a heads up regarding how well you get along.

5. The human body: It's amazing! As I am recovering from surgery, I am amazed at how various systems are related and how they react to and recover after trauma

One More Try

I stepped away from blogging for quite some time. The responsibility of updating on a regular basis, and the rejection of not getting comments were just too much. However, I recently posted a comment on another blog, and in return, my blog was referenced. There is nothing like being exposed to make you step up to the plate.

Since my trip to Ghana life was pretty leveled. No extreme highs or lows, until the past April. I had hip replacement surgery. I was unable to finish out the school year. For someone who hates to be out of the classroom, this was a hard blow. My recovery gave me plenty of time to read. Listed below are some of the books I have read so far this summer:

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
Night by Elie Wiesel
How the Brain Learns by David Sousa
Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
How to Grade for Learning by Ken O'Connor

I also took a short trip to Puerto Vallarta. It might not have been noteworthy had it not been for the fact I was still in the early stages of recovery. Despite the best planned efforts of friends and resort staff to keep me safe, I still managed to step on a sting ray, get sea sick, and walk up(perhaps pull myself up is a better description) a very steep path in the jungle. Those things turned the trip into quite the adventure, which suited me just fine.

Ghana

The trip was wonderful. It amazed me to see the progress they have made and to see how different things are from the sad scenarios we are bombarded with by the media. I truly enjoyed my time there. I experienced everything from resorts and luxury homes to remote villages with no electricity or running water. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the smell of the air. It was a sweet, musky smell that I will never forget. A friend tells me it comes from leaves they add to their trash when they burn it. I just wish I could find it somewhere in a bottle and inhale it when life gets too hectic. It would remind me of a saying they have in Ghana, "The world is not going anywhere." There is no need to get stressed; the world is not going anywhere, but if you get to worked up over things you might go.

Ghana and Other Humanitarian Efforts

My departure date is almost here. All the major details have been attended to and my excitement is beginning to build.

On another note, my book club students have chosen to do a service project in response to a book we recently read. We will be sending boxes to Mongolia and Guatemala. I am excited about this opportunity as well. We will be working with AmeriCares and I feel that this connection will be an ongoing one.

Lately, humanitarian works have really been on my heart. I didn't say evangelical because humanitarian is what is drawing me. I would rather my life than my words be the thing I use to draw people. The Bible says that we should always be ready to give an account for the hope that lies within us. They should see my life and be drawn to ask. If people ask about my life, my passions, etc...that will be my opportunity to witness and share. For me, that has proven to be more productive and of lasting impact than some in your face, sugar coated, confrontational approach that can seem self-centered (aren't I good) rather than a genuine desire to share the Good News! with them. We call it "Good News", but do we live like we have heard it and that it is active in our lives. Even I must admit not always. Let the good news be the focus.

Update

It's been a while since I last posted. The Christmas gifts were a hit. I have all my shots and the countdown to my departure for Ghana has begun. I am beginning to get excited. This is a wonderful opportunity for me and a great experience to share with my students.

I am finding that life has been a lot more stressful than it needed to be. Yes, I am a very analytical person and I must confess overly so. Some may say to the point of obsessing about things, but I disagree. I just love to think things through and, truthfully, of late I have not been doing that. I have been allowing others, in "leadership" positions in various areas of my life, to set boundaries and priorities for me. It my not seem so, but that may be because it was my internal, personal boundaries and priorities that seemed to be influenced the most by external situations and people. That is not me. It explains the inner conflict I have felt and the overall feeling that I was further from being an authentic person than I have ever been. Those close to me were the only ones I felt I could be myself with. With everyone else I wasn't me because anytime I tried to be me they would put on the pressure to change me into what they thought I should be. That would lead to shut down and withdrawal on my part. NO MORE!!! I am happy with my purpose in life and with the point I am at in life. I understand that others might not be happy with this life, but that is probably why this is the one designed for me and not them. I chose to live it on purpose an in peace.

What are people trying so hard to change?

1. I am a happy, content, single person.
2. I have the job I wanted as a child. It is meaningful and rewarding.
3. I enjoy my own company. In other words, I am not a lonely person.
4. I don't require a lot of material things to be happy.
5. I'm an intelligent person. I don't take things at face value, just because someone else said it. I study things to find the merit in them, I am not afraid to disagree with something I find to be wrong, and I know how to disagree in an agreeable way (admittedly I don't always do the last part, but 90% of the time I do).

Crocheting

It was truly a merry Christmas. All the scarves went over very well. I didn't take the opportunity to photograph them before giving them. I have a few requests,so I will make sure I photo those and post them here. The scarf I made with lion suede yarn was the most difficult and I did not finish it in time. It's too difficult to see the pattern in the scarf and I keep losing count. The scarves with the midnight mohair and trellis (ribbon) yarn came out very nice and I have had the most request for those.

Which Way Do They Go?

Okay, what comes first, sunblock or bug repellent? My thought is that the sunblock comes first and the bug repellent goes last, but will that lessen the effectiveness of the sunblock?

Fun and Interesting Places to Visit

After this missions trip I'm going to need to go on or at least be planning a relaxing international trip. Any suggestions? Some of the places I've thought of include a trip to France or Italy.

A Christmas Poem

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.
Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.
We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there?
Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?
Into this climate of fear and apprehension,
Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.
Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth.
Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft.
Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now.
It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.
We tremble at the sound.
We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war.
But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the
Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of
Peace.
We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.
Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

The Home Front

The drainage disaster had a happy ending. The work is done and it looks good (to me anyway). My next task is to get rid of the brown spots in the lawn where the crabgrass I didn't have (okay, so maybe I was in denial) has died. I'll get to it after Christmas, but before the new year.

Merry Christmas 

Gotta Love the Holidays

It's that time year again! The glorious holiday season. I love sitting by the fireplace, enjoying old Christmas movies (especially the musical version of A Christmas Carol starring Albert Finney - - simply the best!), and drinking hot apple cider. I don't see how or why people get so depressed during this time of year. Perhaps, the people who get depressed are the same ones who buy into all the false expectations and hype society passes out all year long. If you live by that stuff your bound to be discourage when you get to the part of the year thats about being thankful for the things and people that have been a blessing to you throughout the year. You feel that you are still bring up the rear of the pack, despite all of your efforts over the past 365 days. HINT, HINT - - the system is not designed for you to catch up. You will never catch up with the Jones' because they are in a hideous cycle of refinance, spend, refinance spend... they do not care about the ever increasing debt they are getting into. You don't want to go there.


Here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for:

1. Friends
2. A supportive family
3. Students that are interested in and enjoying reading
4. An awesome, growing relationship with the Lord
5. Salvation
6. All the positive, wonder experiences awaiting me
7. Good food
8. Good books
9. Good neighbors
10. Knowing who I am and what I want out of life
11. Pajama Days!!!

Ghana and the Home Front

I expressed, to the group I am traveling with, my concerns about releasing a copy of my bank statement. VOILA! I no longer need to submit one. The group we will be working with in Ghana is putting together financial responsibility cover letters for us.

On the home front, I am having a better drainage system put in on the side of the house and it has been an interesting journey. Several companies refused to send anyone out to even give an estimate because the job was "too small". Have things gotten so good in America that we can refuse jobs that are an honest, legal days work merely because they are "too small"? One company admitted it wasn't that they were too busy to do the job, they just wouldn't make that much doing it, so why bother. I appreciated their honesty and the fact that they didn't try to just charge me a higher price to make up for potential lost revenue. That was very nice, but I still needed to get my drainage problem fixed before the rainy season. (Yes, California has a rainy season!)

I finally found someone advertising in one of the bulk mail envelopes I received last week. I think what caught my attention was the advertisement included the phrase "No job too big or too small". He did the estimate today and will do the work tomorrow. Hopefully, all will go well and I won't regret hiring him.

Sometimes, I miss apartment living.

 

Current Read

I am currently reading Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisia. I started it months ago, laid it aside, and now I am getting back to it. I think timing is everything with this one. It's more interested at this point in my life.

There are lots of great lines in the book. For example, "In retrospect, when historical events are gathered up, analyzed, and categorized in articles and books, their messiness disappears and they gain a certain logic and clarity that one never feels at the time". I wonder if that will be the case when we look back on the U.S. "war on terrorism".

Trip to Ghana

I'm getting more and more information and developing more and more questions. Does anyone know why a copy of my bank statement would be required for a visa application? I am extremely leery of allowing my bank account number to pass through strange hands.

Yellow Fever

November 13, 2005

Okay, I'm going to give this blog thing a chance. I have been working with this all day. I opened an account, closed it, had it reopened, couldn't get it to work, and finally started a new one. After all this effort, I'm going to really give this a sincere effort.
I will be leaving for a short trip to Ghana in February. That is another thing I have been apprehensive about, but now I'm going for it (the trip that is, I am still undecided about teaching during two days of my trip).

December 3rd, 2005

I got my yellow fever shot and a prescription for malaria tablets. Whew! Things are rolling right along. We have our first group meeting on December 3rd. I'll get more information on what to pack at that time.

Alaska

This picture is from my trip to Alaska. I went during the summer of '03 and had a great time. I left the day after the university signed off on my thesis. What a way to relax!