Let Me Sum Up

So, dear blog readers, a lot has happened since I last wrote. Let me explain. No, too much to explain. Let me sum up (Buttercup is marry Humperdinck in little less than half an hour... If you got the reference before I finished the quote, well done:)). Since I last wrote, I have learned that snow days and sick days are not as much fun when you are a grown-up; I learned about writings things down (brain like a sieve), I got to go home for Christmas, slid my car backwards down a hill, had a wonderful time as assistant archivist and aid at the Adams Museum and House, and frankly have been learning a whole lot about faith. More on that later. So, now that I have summed up, let me elaborate.

First of all, being sick is much more fun when it involves missing (elementary) school, sleeping on the couch and watching movies all day. For me, Mom was there and she heated up my soup, made sure I was ok, that kind of thing. Sure, I felt gross, but I got to hang out with Mom, sleep, watch movies and rest. Then I started having more than one class, then I got a job, then I had a job AND was paying for class, then I had a job where I was paid per hour. Sick was suddenly something to avoid at all costs. My definition of "sick" slowly shifted from "feeling-icky" to "Oh-gosh-I-have-a-headache-I-think-I-might-vomit-and-wait-is-that-a-fever?" This, my friends, is part of the problem with our culture. When we finally admit to being sick, we are SICK. Then we take the least amount of time possible to recover. This is a practical solution, because, honestly, we need to work to make money to survive. So, being sick and taking time off is not exactly the top priority. I know that's how I feel.

Secondly. Same with snow days. Although I did learn that I'm pretty good at shoveling snow.

Thirdly. Write stuff down. This is why we have things like paper, pens, even text messages; so we don't do stupid things like pay bills twice and have to wait for money that you wouldn't have not had if you hadn't been an idiot and forgotten to write it down in the first place...but I digress. Write stuff down.

Fourthly, I don't want to talk about the car other than to say that it was 3:30 in the morning, a steep hill and the icer truck was just doing his rounds. No one was hurt, but I still cried a little. I had a 6am flight that didn't leave until 1:30 and it was the longest and one of the most miserable mornings of my life. BUT, silver lining.

I GOT TO GO HOME!! Yup, at the end of the day (you're another day older?) I got off the plane at the Spokane Airport and saw 4 of my favorite people in the world. We drove home and I was there all weekend. It was wonderful. Were there people I didn't get to see? Sure, but I saw my family, and many of my church family. SO it was worth it :)

So, you may have heard that my job is over, until April. Technically, it was supposed to end in October, but they hired me on for November and December. They were unable to do this for the months between December and April, so I prayed about staying or going home. Well, we'll come back to that. Regardless, I had a wonderful time learning about curating and archiving during my time at the Adams, and I am excited to go back in April. I did a lot of work with photographs. I cataloged them at the Adams House and scanned them while working in the archives. And I loved almost every minute of it. Well, grad school it is then :)

Now, to hope to the job thing, and the faith thing, wow. Right now, I'm working part time as a barista and looking for another job to go with that. I'm waiting to hear back from several folks. I was praying about whether to turn in my SD Adventures Card and go home, but I got this weird sense of peace and was told to sign my six month lease. Really? I ask. After a while of this, finally I say OK. If you say so. Shortly after, I got my part time job, and even though it's really quite nerve-wracking to not be working full time, I feel a weird sense of peace. So I did. And, frankly, there is a lot to say on this topic, so we'll actually talk more about that coming up in the next post. But seriously, I feel like I am having to trust God more than I ever have before, He just keeps reminding me, "It’s okay. I told you to stay, right? Do you trust Me? Would I let you not be ok after you're doing what I told you to do?" And the answer that I have to keep remembering is, Yes, I trust you Lord. You are watching out for me, and there are people here who are watching out for me in Your Name (I'll talk about my church here coming up too).

"My life is in You Lord, my strength is in You Lord, My Hope is in You Lord, in You, it's in You" are the opening lyrics to a song that I have really taken to heart lately. When uncertainty comes, this song helps me to remember that my life, hope and strength don't come from me, they come from God. Which is a comforting thought. (Drat you Tolkien! Think back to the mines of Moria, Frodo's emo moment...Gandalf's reply...)

Well, that wraps up the novel for now, I'm going to work on my essay for grad school(I'm going for my PhD in horribleness) and listen to my favorite whining-but-hardcore(ish)-in-the-book hobbit, Fellowship style. Fingers crossed (about grad school).

(Special thanks to Les Mis, Dr. Horrible, The Princess Bride and the usual suspect).