House...the Sequel

So, we put an offer on the house, and they accepted! We are SO excited! We won't move in until August, but that's ok. We won't have to break our lease or start payments before I work or anything, so that's good. Anyways, when it is time to move in we will have tons of pictures! Yippeeee!

House

No, not the TV show. Tomorrow we are putting in an offer on a house. We are so excited. Wish us luck.

ABQ Ride

Today Doug rode the city bus. You know gas prices must be high, because his little white truck gets about 30mpg. This just feels so momentous--I've never known someone who rides the bus! It's kind of exciting! That is all.

Employment

Yay! I now have a job for the school year and for the summer. The big one is that I will be teaching third grade at Sunset Vista, a new school. I am way excited to know this early, and I am also excited that I will be teaching in the 3-5 grade range (I am not too keen on teaching the way youngins). As for this summer, if all goes through (which it should, as I have already spoke with the manager) I will be working at the bookstore at my church. I am glad I will have a job this summer, because I need to stay busy since my sister is leaving me. And I already have the two weeks off for my Alaska trip approved, so I don't have to worry about that. So, everyone, be excited for me! Yippeeee!

Not all kindergarteners are scary

I know I do a lot of dramatic complaining about subbing, but usually it is a lot of fun. On Friday, I was in a Kindergarten class, and for the last three days I was in another Kindergarten class. To tell the truth, they were really cute, and it was a lot of fun to sing and play and listen to their funny little stories. I think that it really makes a difference who the teacher is and how she runs the class, as well as the plans she leaves. Anyways, I am really glad that everything went so well, because I may end up being a Kindergarten teacher, and I'm ok with that. :)

Something ironic

So last night Amanda and I went to our local ghetto Wal-Mart--that is a big step for me (ask if you're curious). Anyways we did our shopping and as we were heading back to our car I saw something very ironic. You know those trucks that are lifted so high the bottom of the truck come to your chest. Ok, so that is not so ironic by itself, but the ironic part is there was one of those very lifted trucks parked in a handicap parking spot. I know what you are thinking they did illegally, well they didn't it. They had a handicap card hanging in their window. Just thought that was weird. Am I the only one?

Families

This past weekend I had the opportunity, if you can call it that, to attend a funeral of my friend's grandmother, Sally Eleanor Polk. While it was a sad event, I was uplifted by the notion of family. I have been blessed with an immensely loving and supportive family. We are close. We are passionate. We love, laugh, and cry together. I have always felt that my family was something special and somewhat had pity for other people, only given "mediocre" families. As arrogant as it sounds, it is hard to imagine that when you are so blessed with a gift of an amazing family, that it may not be so rare.

This weekend, I found that I am not the only one with a great support system of family. I found that, indeed, other people have loving connections with their relatives. As I saw people laugh over the memories of their lost loved one as well as cry over the loss of that person, my heart was filled with what can be described as joy--joy of the fact that there are other wonderful families out there. This may not sound as profound to you as it was to me, but oh well.

Another less-than-profound revelation that occurred to me this weekend was how much impact individual members of one's family has on a person. As I watched countless people give testimonies about how this woman had really shaped the person they are today, I thought about how my own grandmothers had had an impact on who I am. Until now, this impact has gone unnoticed. When I think about it, I realize that I have my grandma Judy's strong, opinionated personality, taking on the world, not afraid of anyone. On the other hand, there is a part of me that is my great-grandmother Lillian, my "Mom-Mom", that is very compassionate as well as "domestic", taking joy in things like gardening and cooking. Even though my contact with these women was brief and considerably surface-level (as I suppose most adult-child relationships are), I can attribute much of the person I am today to their influence.