It's Cold in NorCal

I picked that title because it's cold here and because Eric dislikes the abbreviation "NorCal."

So we're here at mom's and it's nice to be back. Even though it's cluttered (I've already sneaked two old cleaning items from the bathroom into the trash -- sorry mom, but these things have an expiration date too!! :) ], even so, I really like my old house. I also love that it has a big yard full of crazy, wild growth. For some reason I feel inspired here -- mainly to clean & organize & decorate, but also to create things and cook and read and enjoy silence and nature.

So my main thoughts for the day are:

• I'm grateful that Eric is now a teacher. We shared tons of ideas on the way up here, and we both brought work to do. It's nice to share such a significant passion between us.
• Second, I think it would be cool to have been a follower of Christ back in the day & have him exposit the scriptures to us -- Luke 24:27 -- "Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures." How cool must that have been?

That's all for now. I have some laundry to do...

Life Lately

Well, well, well. Someone's still logging in, eh?
Sorry I've been gone so long. October was a busy month and Eric hogs the computer, so it's hard to stay on top of the blog. Please forgive me! To make up for this long absence, I will provide many highlights from October, and will attempt to alliterate a little.

HAPPY HIGHLIGHTS:

Women's Weekend Retreat: Hume Lake was lovely -- fall colors and deer. Judy was a great speaker. Lesson learned: Circumstances of life will be hard, even heartwrenching, but God is sovereign and wants us to trust Him regardless of circumstances. Father knows best. :)

GuluWalk: We walked for peace in Uganda & were stars on Fox News! A cool time to empathize w/ the Ugandan kids, make a statement, meet people, bond with ICU and wear orange.

Camping in Kernville: Getting lost w/ Holly about 5 x; Melted marshmallows, Sittin' around doin' nothin' around a smoky campfire, quirky little coffee shops, cozy in the tent w/ Worsham, getting hooked up by the Smiths, who provided tent, tarp, hatchet entertainment, etc.; Molten bottle (we melted a bottle in the fire and reshaped it); and a little polar bear swimming. The desert flowers were blooming on my way home. I'm sold on Kernville -- we should definitely do it again!

Halloween happenings: I didn't really celebrate officially, but I did attend school in my Salwar Kameez from India, and even added eyeliner & a red dot to my forehead. At night I visited my student's family's haunted house -- pretty pro. My favorite was the insane guy in the "rubber room" with the silence of the lambs mask on, and then getting chased out by Jason with a chainsaw. I hung real close to the 60-year-olds who went through ahead of me -- no idea who they were, but I was their little buddy through the whole thing...
The family's trying to get me to take it on for the school. We'll see.

TMC Student Teacher: Jenny Starkey, aka Mrs. Starkey, is my student teacher now. She's great. She's taking on more lessons with my classes, and she took some papers home to grade this weekend (PTL). I'm hoping to get some filing and gobs of grading done while she's here. :)