Home again, home again...

          I'm back! Did you miss me? We had a lot of fun in North Carolina with Hubby's family, even though instead of snow we got a warm front and torrential downpours. I also managed to come down with my "once a year severe winter cold" almost as soon as we arrived at our destination. I spent all of Christmas day on Nyquil, therefore only partially aware of what was going on that day. Still, I managed to have a really great time and got to know my sister-in-laws a lot better.

          Just a side note to gloat about the greatest, most thoughtful husband in the world: Hubby has got to be the world's greatest gifter. For Christmas this year he actually tracked down and bought me a US 1st Edition of The Adventures of Peter Pan and Wendy, which just so happens to be my favorite book of all time. I was stunned. I think it's really cool when someone puts that much thought into a gift =0)

          In other news, I'm preparing to go to part-time this week. I've met with several people to discuss what my new hours will be like and what aspects of the ministry I have to cut out and what things I need to encourage volunteers to take on. I think my biggest concern was the most easily resolved of them all. We decided that we really needed to find someone who could take on the role of Sunday School Coordinator and the very first person I talked to agreed to do it with no questions asked. It was such a burden off my shoulders and has made preparing for this transition a lot more bearable than it might have been. I have a lot of hope that things are going to turn around this year. Please keep praying for us =0)

Counting down...

          This is my last full work day before I go on vacation next week. Tomorrow I only have to set up for our Happy Birthday Jesus party (which will take an hour, tops!) and on Sunday, once we've finished cleaning up from the party (which should be around noon or 1) I will be a free woman! Whoopee! We don't leave till Tuesday morning, but Monday is my one day off a week, so I will treasure it and treat myself to some hot cocoa, a fire in the fireplace, and some Christmas classics...as soon as I've packed of course. I think Hubby and I are the best last-minute packers in the world. It always amazes me how we can procrastinate till the very last possible moment, and then still remember everything we need (except that one time Hubby forgot our pillows when we went camping...). Besides the pillow incident, the worst thing we've ever forgotten was toothpaste (though we remembered the toothbrushes, go figure!) and there are always a million places to get that. Do us both a favor and pray fervently with us that there will be snow in the mountains of North Carolina while we are there. Hubby and I seriously have not seen snow for more than 5 years! It's a tragedy! So please God! Let there be SNOW!!! 

Where can I go to scream?

          I love my job. I love kids. I love God. And I love serving. Sometimes, however, I just want to scream. Maybe that's one of the reasons I started this blog, so when things got really frustrating and I just needed to "let it all out" I could do so without actually damaging anyone's eardrums. The budget cuts at our church, as well as the direction that leadership is heading (with the exception of the pastor) has got me wanting to go somewhere far far away and just scream. Grrr! Lately, when I'm stopped at a long light or something in my car, by myself, I've taken to screaming about as loud as I can without anyone in any of the other cars hearing me. I wonder, did any of those heroes of the Bible ever wanted to do that? When I read the book of John it often sounds like Jesus was on the verge, in fact he just came out and said he was fed up with people a lot of the time. I don't believe I could get away with that, so I'll stick to my solitary screaming to get my frustrations out for now. Please keep praying for me. I know the blog has taken a kind of negative turn in the last week or so, but this too shall pass. 

          In the mean time, Hubby and I are really excited because in only a matter of days we will be on our way to visit his family in North Carolina for Christmas! I am really looking forward to seeing my in-laws again, since its been over a year and a half since I've been with most of them, including my nephews. In fact, this will be the first time Hubby and I have ever seen our new niece who is now over a year old! We also get to hang out with my father-in-laws new Doberman puppy. I just can't wait! I wish we could leave right now =0)

Merry Christ-mas!!!

          So today is the final day of our Charlie Brown movie Holiday marathon that began in October with It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Tonight we're going to eat some snicker-doodles, bake some sugar cookies, drink some hot cocoa, and top it all off with the greatest Christmas movie of all time-Charlie Brown Christmas. I love this one above all the other holiday favorites and Charlie Brown films, because not only does it center around my favorite holiday and my favorite characters, it is all about the TRUE TRUE TRUE meaning for Christmas, and finding joy and peace in all the hustle and bustle and commercialism that seems to have sprung up around this most holy of days. So many Christmas movies focus on family and togetherness as the real reasons for celebrating, but they miss the biggest reason of all. Family and togetherness are great and very important, I think, in honoring Christ's birth, but even that seems to push Jesus to the back burner in a lot of people's minds. It's amazing how even seemingly good things can take our attention off our Savior. My father-in-law probably could (and would) preach a whole sermon on how the enemy can even use good things to take us away from true worship. So this year, don't forget to tell the ones you love that you care, but most importantly, don't forget to tell the One who loves you with an everlasting love that you are grateful and that you love Him too.

Meow!

          Can I just post cute cat pictures all day? Maybe I should change the title of this blog to "Stories from a Cat's Human" or something and just talk about my cat all the time. Honestly, I would never runt out of things to talk about. I've considered off and on making my own online comic all about my goofy cat, but I'm too lazy to sit down and draw it. So, since I can't post cute kitty cat pictures all day, I can at least post a few today. Hope they make you smile =0)

Back to my roots

          So, always trying to look on the bright side of things, I've decided that the new direction my life has taken, namely being cut to half-time, will be a great opportunity to get back into my art. I went to school for fine arts, specifically illustration, and ended up with my BFA (Bachelor's of Fine Art) with my concentration in illustration, as well as a minor (almost a double major) in Ceramics. In my four years of college I also began working as a muralist, completing 3 large murals (two for churches and one for my Dad), and did a number of resume padding public artworks, including working as one of two lead painters on a giant fiberglass jaguar, for Jacksonville's Big Cats charity drive. Since I graduated I can count the number of times I've picked up my pencil and sketchbook on one hand. I have practically ignored my art for over a year and a half, to the point where people are shocked to find out that I'm an artist (that used to be the first thing people learned about me). Funny how that works isn't it? So I have decided to really focus not just on that teaching position, but also on getting an apprenticeship or a job as a shop assistant with one of our many local artists. It seems like a good time to start making art again =0)

Oh dear...

          I could really use a cupcake right now...our church just "let go" our worship and music director and moved me to half-time. As you know, I saw this coming a while ago, and I am actually not upset at all. In fact I am marveling at how God already started taking care of things, even before I knew they needed to be taken care of. Just Friday a dear lady at our church called me up all a twitter because she had found an opening for a part-time art teacher at the local high school and she thought that would be a great opportunity to spend more time with the kids (since a lot of them are getting really into the art program there lately). She sent me the application immediately and I was able to check it out Sunday. Just this morning our pastor broke the news to me that I was to be moved to half time. Honestly, I almost laughed. Amazing how God works =0)

          Still, I would really like a cupcake right now, because now I have to fix up my resume, write a cover letter, and pray really hard that the school district will grant me an emergency credential so I can teach (California is really strict about that). So please be praying for me and that I get this job. I would really like this job, I love art and I love kids, what could be better?