The Crab Chronicles

Sunday Craziness

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but my Sundays rarely are restful. Today was no exception.

Today was Youth Sunday at our church, and Michael was tapped to do two important things with his little Rite 13 class, read the Prayers of Intercession, and Read the Lord's Prayer while all the other kids did the sign language version. I forgot my camera but I took some shots with my phone.

As you can see, we have a very informal little church. Folks wear jeans, shorts, whatever. Mike looked conservative compared to a lot of the other teens. LOL / Below he's reading the prayer. All those kids are from the entire Sunday School.

The little ones are so funny.

Then after to church we had to get to Kroger. Then I had to take Alesia to work.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on Mike's social studies project with him, about China.He had to write and illustrate a comic book about Chinese history. We ended up doing "Bubba's Adventure in China." It may not win any awards, but it's done, at least.

No time for gardening but I took photos:

These are the ginormous parsley and spaghetti squash plants in one shot:

Hope y'all were able to relax!

Ranting Zombie

Yesterday was sort of bizarre, for several different reasons.I got a call from a recruiter about a job with a company up in Lawrenceville. They needed a Legal Assistant. Matt sounded funny on the phone and kept saying "Just read the email I send and let me know what you think." I thought that was a bit odd.

The company, it turns out, is an ultra right-wing group of lawyers who help people push their agenda through legal cases. Some of it is undoubtedly real religious persecution, and I am all for that kind of litigation because persecution of any group is unfair and just wrong. One of my ancestors was a French Huguenot who fled France in the 19th century due to religious persecution.

However, what made me back out of the job interview was an insistence that I sign off on a statement saying I completely agreed with their entire belief system, which included statements that the bible is completely infallible, people who aren't saved burn in hell, all abortion is murder, etc.  I am a Christian but I am a "live and let live" person. I don't push my beliefs or agenda on anyone and I resent when folks try to do it to me. As I've said before, I have dear friends who are all different religions, friends who are gay, who are Buddhists, who are agnostic or atheist, etc. I live with a Staunch Republican Episcopalian [Mother] but my closest friends are more liberal. My feeling is that I can love people BUT not necessarily agree with their beliefs and that's OK. My conscience wouldn't allow me to even discuss working for people who would demand I toe the ultra-right wing party line, though.

I will fight to the death for anyone in America's right to believe whatever they like because I think that's what makes our country great - it's tolerance. I am appalled at someone trying to force their beliefs on me, especially in a professional situation. Politics and religion have no place in the workplace, IMHO.

I never contributed to the PAC that Home Depot employees were urged to support, either. I think PACs and lobbying Congress is just wrong. That's part of the reason we are in such a fiscal mess right now. Everyone in Congress has their own agenda, and they don't care about the common good.

OK, I will climb off the soapbox now...

Michael was not a happy camper last night because I made him stay home and finish homework rather than go to baseball practice. I have a rule, school before sports. The teachers loaded him up with homework yesterday. He clearly didn't eat a good enough snack, and he became uncooperative. That always happens when he doesn't eat enough.

Alesia stayed at school until almost 9, then came home and ate a huge supper. I still have a hard time getting her to understand that going for hours and hours without eating is counterproductive. I don't know why it is taking so long to get my kids to understand that.

I have told Alesia over and over that I want her home before dark, but she has her own agenda. I am trying very hard to disengage from her daily dramas.

Then this morning at 5:15 Mother woke me up needing my help. She was awake with leg cramps all night. I got her some tonic water [for the quinine] and a potassium pill. She was up all night, bless her heart. I got her squared away, then I couldn't go back to sleep.

So I am operating on 5 hours sleep. I am zombie-like. It's such a lovely feeling.

Energizing Morning

I remember in college reading a quote that sort of scared me, but now, at 48, I totally get it and it makes me chuckle: "Age and treachery will always win over youth and skill.

Michael played in a tennis round robin tournament this morning with his friend Colton. Their strategy was to just make the "old guys" run all over the courts, so they could win. Well, the "old guys" won. I don't think they used treachery, but they sure did give the young whippersnappers a butt-whoopin. I didn't see what happened, just heard about it from my friend Melanie.

 

I spent the morning at church. Not how I usually spend Saturday morning, but that's OK. I was very delighted to be able to hear Sara Miles speak. She was very candid, funny, and refreshing. She is very involved with her home church in San Francisco St. Gregory's, and she's become a really respected person in the Episcopalian community. We tend to be "God's frozen people." Sara's about the exact opposite of that. Her church is much more "hands on" than hidebound, and they sing in 4 part harmony without instruments, pass around the chalice for communion, and in general have a much more lively service. They also bring in food every Friday and operate a food pantry for anyone who is hungry.

Sara is gay and a former atheist, and much more left-wing than anyone I've ever met. However, I was struck this morning by how straightforward and insightful she is when she speaks. The one thing that will stay in my mind is her idea that Jesus is all about ACTION. He's not about forming a committee or studying an idea, he's about feeding people, healing people, and doing the work. There's nothing in the bible about going to church. It's all about doing for other people.

Here's a quote I like: "Jesus is right here with me and the crazy guy: the lowly and unprepared, as the prophets foretold. Among the weak, faithless, and doubting, as his disciples proved, then and now. He doesn’t look for the most “religious,” the most doctrinally correct, or, for that matter, the smartest of his beloved people to build his Kingdom, but hands over authority to anyone willing to suspend self-doubt, and simply trust Jesus’ faith in us."

When Sara realized there were hungry people all around her church, she started a food pantry. Everyone is welcome. Nobody has to live in the right area code or have the right paperwork. I so admire that. The food project has been thriving for more than 10 years.

I had a chance to chat with Sara after the lecture and she was very warm and down to earth. I've been to a lot of lectures in my life, but rarely have I felt so great afterwards.

It's a beautiful day here in Atlanta.

Alesia ran over something and blew out a tire last night so we have to get it fixed. Mother is feeling puny. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Michael has a scraped knee. There's no great reason to rejoice, but still I feel joyful and hopeful.

Being out among fellow grownups who share some of my enthusiasm for hands-on Christianity is so energizing and empowering. I wish I could listen to Sara [or someone like her] every morning.

Oh, and my seeds are sprouting! I will try and post a photo later. The zucchini and cauliflower are reaching for the sky!

Welcoming and Letting Go

We read a quote this morning in my adult formation class [what Episcopalians call Sunday School] that really struck home with me. I wanted to share it:

"The great and twin disciplines of the spiritual art of being family are, I think, the disciplines of welcoming and of letting go. These are matters of the heart."

[I can't find the name of the book this came from or I would share it. Rev. Laura showed us the book but the title has escaped me. I will email her.]

We are starting a series on caregiving - for parents and also perhaps non-parents who are still caring for someone, often their own elderly parents. I fit into both categories. It can be very challenging.

We went around the circle of folks in the class and everyone said their names and the names and ages of their children. The grandfatherly man sitting next to me had 10 children, ranging in age from 15 to late 40's. One woman, older than me, refused to give her kids' ages, saying then everyone would guess her own age. One lady had an infant with her. So it was a diverse group.

The only two parents who got emotional talking about their children were me and another mom, who has two daughters adopted domestically. We are both single moms. I don't think of us as a particularly oppressed group, but it was interesting that all the other parents spoke pretty matter-of-factly, and this other mom and I got choked up.

Maybe it's because being a single mom IS a great challenge. There is no co-parent to share ths stresses. Then again, there is nobody else we have to consult. I have Mother, of course, who is almost a co-parent, and has a great influence on my children, so I am very fortunate.

The bottom line is, God puts parents together with their children, whether biological or adopted. God makes families.

Hopefully I will glean some more interesting nuggets of information in the coming weeks, and I will share those here.

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Our Russian Christmas Dinner last night was fun, but there was not a big turnout. That was OK by me, because it gave me a chance to have a good visit with the folks who were actually there. I forgot my camera, though, much to my chagrin. Oh well, next year will hopefully be better.

It was very cold and windy yesterday, and I suspect that might have accounted for the light turnout. Kids played outside and inside, though...

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If you like to read and you [like me] are appalled by the prices of books nowadays, check out this site, the Paperback Book Swap. I already listed a bunch of books on there and mailed off my first one, which gives me credits. It costs 2-3 dollars to mail a book, but that's a LOT cheaper than buying them. Check it out.

The Places We Can Go

I have noticed as I have endured this long period of employment woes that the minute I get to feeling really down and discouraged about how my life is going, God sends me a sign that things will get better. 

I get perturbed with myself sometimes for forgetting that God will take care of us. Sometimes I hear my grandmother's voice singing God Will Take Care of You, in my head. Mother told me it was Mamaw's favorite, and she had a lot of trials in her life so I am sure it was a frequent comfort to her.

I know I have talked about enjoying the blog Single Dad Laughing, but today's post is particularly powerful, even though it doesn't mention theology at all. It underlines my deep belief that miracles happen every day. This was a sign of hope for me this morning as I read it.

I always want to tell my non-believer friends that God is the most potent energy source in the world. This article Electric Ghosts discusses that in a thoughtful way. I just have an instinctive belief that our souls have energy and as we know from physics energy is never created nor destroyed, it merely changes forms. Love is powerful energy. Even most hardened atheists will agree that Love exists. I pity the ones who can never make the leap to understand that God IS Love, so therefore he exists.

One of my dreams is to be able to come up with a persuasive, logical way to convince non-believers of the existence and power of God. I guess I should just leave it up to the many priests and pastors in the world, huh?! Then again, it says somewhere in the bible "a little child shall lead them."

MY LOGICAL CHILD

I've always known my daughter was a very concrete thinker and her problem-solving abilities are very keen, but nothing brought home just how different we are like the conversation we had last night. It still makes me chuckle.

I was fixing dinner and I put something in the microwave for a minute. I went back to the stove and Alesia, who was sitting at the kitchen table, said "Did you see that?"

"See what?" I asked, not really know what she had noticed.

"The way that light flickered?" [The light over the kitchen table.]

"Yep, I saw it," I replied.

There was a pause.

I said, "You know what I think about when I see that light flickering?"

She looked at me. "No."

"I think my Daddy is trying to give me a message from the other side, saying a little hi, I'm here."

Alesia rolled here eyes. "That's weird, Mom."

"I read somewhere that spirits communicate with energy, that dimming lights can indicate paranormal activity," I explained.

There was another pause.

Alesia said "You know what I think when I see that light dimming?"

"No, what?"

"I think the energy from using the microwave overloaded the electric system and caused the light to dim, Mom."

I had to chuckle.

"You are going to be an engineer one of these days, kiddo. You just demonstrated how completely differently you and I think!"

I pointed out to her that some engineers [like cousin Steve] get to design cool stuff, and travel. She liked that. "I would like to travel!" she said excitedly.

As Dr. Seuss said, Oh, the Places You'll Go...   ;-)

[NOTE: Despite not sharing my enthusiasm for exploring the paranormal, Alesia does believe in God.]

A Day of Crowds

Seems like I've been in crowds all day long, which is weird for a Sunday.

Our church had no Sunday school today, so Michael and I went to church with Jason and Alesia. Jason goes to a mega church up in Gwinnett County, about 30 minutes from here. When I say mega I am not exaggerating. The parking lot alone is bigger than all the parking at Georgia Perimeter College. They run 3 services on Sunday and one or two on Saturday night. It doesn't look like a church. It looks like an auditorium. There was a professional type band, flashing lights, the whole nine yards. I've been in some big churches but nothing like this. Wow.

They have probably a half dozen coffee stations, and there's a Starbucks type coffee bar on the lower floor.Those people are caffeinated, lemme tell ya.

I am not a fan of mega churches, I will admit. I was prepared to hate it. I didn't hate it. It's not the way I want to worship, but I didn't disagree with anything that was said or done.

Baptisms were done onstages, with the folks sitting in little boxes of water and getting fully immersed. Each baptism [there were 3 or 4] was accomplished in about 2 minutes. The minister asked if the person accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and then sort of pushed them down in the water to be totally immersed. Everyone applauded. The name flashed on the screen.That was it.

The sermon centered on the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes with the 5 loaves and two fishes. It asked everyone to consider how you have to allow for miracles and trust God. I totally agree with that.

What I didn't care for was the feeling of being just one of a multitude. In my little church you see the same faces every Sunday. You know people. They know you. There's one urn of coffee for everyone, and that's enough.The ministers now your name.

I also wasn't tickled that there were no female ministers anywhere on the stage of mega church. Lots of guys but no females. This is supposed to be a non-denominational church, so I don't understand that. In my opinion, women have just as much right to preach the gospel as men.

I'm not a mega church kinda gal, but it was an interesting experience.

I told Jason that turnabout is fair play, and he will have to come to St. Bede's one Sunday. That will be a shock to his system. LOL

We went to Kroger late this afternoon to stock up on groceries and it was a zoo. Crowds everywhere. One guy walking around was about 6'5, completely bald, long trenchcoat [it was 65 degrees out], long beard, lots of tattoos. He looked like a bad guy from Matrix or something. I avoided him. He is not a typical Kroger shopper, not in the burbs anyway.

Alesia had some drama this evening with Jason, their first fight, but things got smoothed over, thank God. She handled it with maturity and I was proud of her.

Can't believe Thanksgiving week is here. Wow.

Miracles Happen Every Day

I used to think only nutjobs believed in angels and miracles and such. Age and maturity have shown me otherwise. In order to allow miracles into your life I truly believe you have to talk to God.

Over at Single Dad Laughing's blog he is asking readers to leave comments about something impossible that has happened. The comments left are astonishing, and give me hope. If you're feeling down, go over to his site and check them out.

The recent return of my daughter to my home is just another in a long line of miracles that have touched my life from the very beginning.

When my mother found out she was pregnant with me in 1961, it was a very high risk pregnancy. There was only a slim chance that I would survive. She had had one really tragic miscarriage shortly after she married, and then a number of smaller miscarriages. She couldn't seem to get pregnant and stay that way. My brother was born healthy but then Mother nearly died of a kidney infection after being in and out of labor for over a week.

With me, Dr. Watson told Mother that if she didn't rest in bed the whole pregnancy she would likely miscarry again. Bruce was 2! Try staying in bed with an active 2 year old boy to look after. So Dad borrowed money and hired a maid, and Mother stayed in bed the whole time. She bled the entire time. When I was finally born, the cord was wrapped around my neck and I was coming very quickly. Dr. Watson gave Mother a drug to slow labor and unwrapped the cord from my neck. So I was born a healthy 5 lb. 8 oz. miracle.

I've often thought to myself, why did I defy the odds and make it into this world? Is there some compelling reason for me to exist? I don't have any extraordinary talents or gifts. I finally came to realize, in the last few years, that adopting my children was my purpose in life.

My ministry is to spread the word that there are many, many children in the world that need loving homes, and even without a whole lot of money you can still adopt them and have a happy family.

My friend Stephanie's recent post about what would've happened if she hadn't adopted her children should be required reading for any adoptive parent or anyone who has ever even considered adopting an older child. Less than 5% of children over age 3 are ever adopted. Most go into lives of crime, prostitution, drug addiction, and/or suicide.

So many kids like Michael, who is missing a hand, are considered totally disabled in foreign countries. In India he would likely have to beg. In Kazakhstan he was looking at a future of collecting a government welfare-type check the rest of his life. Being an orphan and having a missing hand meant his future was going to be VERY bleak. Stephanie's kids were headed to similar fates. It's not considered politically correct in the adoption world to say you "rescued" your child or saved their life, but  that's the truth of it, in so many cases. 

Whether you call it something "impossible" or use my preferred term "miracle," the impossible happens every day.

I truly believe there are two worlds we live in, the Seen and the Unseen. By "unseen" I simply mean the world of the spirit. For Christians, it's the Holy Spirit. Maybe you don't believe in ghosts, but if you're a Christian and you take the bible seriously, you have to admit Jesus was a ghost, when he appeared on the third day. So there are inexplicable things in the world.

My dad's uncle, Jake, was told he had severe heart issues and despite the fact he was a binge drinker, and only sporadically sought medical treatment at the VA hospital, he lived for years afterwards. (He was one of the sweetest humans I've ever known, and I adored him.)

The fact that I was able to adopt Alesia, despite the many obstacles, is a miracle. The orphanage director had great hostility towards Americans and was adamant Alesia not be adopted. I prayed, many friends and family members prayed, the missionary Svetlana visited him, Katya wrote him a beautiful letter, and somehow his heart was moved and he signed the papers allowing the adoption just days before he died. If he had not, my daughter would very likely be living on the streets in Russia, with no future.

When Michael came here in May 2007, he knew maybe 20 words of English. He started school a few months later and was able to do most all of the work, with help. In fall 2008, after less than 18 months in America, he tested out of the fourth grade and was put in the fifth grade. How many kids do you know who could do that, in a language they didn't speak for the first 10 years of life?!?

After she was diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder and received therapy, Alesia's reading level jumped from 2nd grade to about 7th grade in less than 2 years, and she was able to do well in high school despite lacking a lot of basic knowledge. She is very smart, but in Russia she was considered "slow."

As Mother and I struggle to pay bills, and pray for me to find a job or a way to make a living, we try to remind each other about every day that God's ways are not known to us, but all things have a reason. Maybe I needed to be home right now, supporting Michael and Mom emotionally during this very difficult fall. Maybe I wouldn't have had the strength to persevere with all the emotional storms recently if my attention was divided by a demanding job.

God's plans are exactly what we would want for ourselves if we knew all the facts. AMEN

If you are in a situation that you cannot cope with alone, ask God to take your burden. Ask for a miracle.

Happy Baptism Day

I was very proud of my son today. He was baptized into the Episcopal Church and "sealed as Christ's own forever"! Yay! He didn't show any nerves, and read his responses in a nice clear voice. I, on the other hand, cried and ruined my eye makeup, while Michael was being annointed with holy water and then when we walked around the church. Mother cried too.

The heater at the church was broken and it was very cold this morning, so that didn't help. I didn't think I would need a coat because it was so sunny, and just wore a black cotton tunic shirt and pants and a big scarf. Michael had on a nice sweater and a tee shirt underneath. Mother just wore a long-sleeved shirt and sweater and skirt.

Alesia had an appointment to go back to the mall to interview for a job, so she didn't make it to church, but joined us later for lunch.

It was so cold, the priest told Mike later he was "an honorary member of the polar bear club!" Thank goodness we sprinkle instead of full immersion.

Mother sat in the back near the font.

Below, in front of the font, is Mike's Rite 13 teacher and baptismal sponsor, Dr. Graves. A very nice man.

Afterwards, we went out to lunch with Alesia and her boyfriend Jason at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Mother didn't feel up to joining us, but we had a fun time. Below are some shots there. Mike had VERY hot hot wings and drank two huge glasses of water.

I thought Michael was getting to be such a big guy, until I saw him next to Jason. LOL I must say, I like Jason very much. He has been a hugely positive influence on Alesia. I am very glad he is a Christian and has our same values.

Now begins the real work for Michael, of preparing to be confirmed. I feel confident his spiritual life will continue to grow.

PRAYER REQUEST

I am so happy there have been positive things to come about in the past few weeks, culminating in today. However, I still need prayer coverage for my job situation. I am trying to stay positive and focused, but it's tough. Please just pray that God will lead me to the right job soon. Thanks.

Strange Encounters

Many years ago I made the stupid mistake of perusing Classmates, and I've paid for it ever since. They send me emails constantly asking if I remember so-and-so from high school. Well, there were something like 500 people in my high shcool graduating class so no, chances are I don't remember that person.

Everyone I ever knew from third grade forward I have already friended on Facebook, anyway!

Except two women, and Facebook keeps asking me if I don't want to friend them?!? Well, no. I don't care if we have 50 friends in common. One of them played a mean trick on me in 6th grade and I still get ticked off every time I see her smiling face in her profile photo. The other one was a close friend until about 7 years ago, and then she went wacko and quit talking to me for reasons I still cannot fathom.

That's the irritating thing about Facebook. I check it a few times a day, just out of boredom, but it's not my life. I like to play Farmville. I like to see what everyone's doing. Occasionally, I ask for advice. That's about it.

Like today I asked about games the kids can play at Mike's Halloween party on Saturday. I got some good suggestions, and some weird ones. It's hard to know what a bunch of 12-14 year olds will want to do. They're not little kids. They aren't like teenagers just yet either. They're Tweens. I hate that term, but there it is.

Unlike many mothers, I really really don't want my son playing outside at night. There is a creek in the backyard and we've seen water moccasins in it. I don't want to take a chance on some child getting bitten. I also don't want the kids running all over the place on a scavenger hunt. I just don't think you should bother your neighbors like that. I remember doing a scavenger hunt when I was in 8th grade and I remember distinctly feeling fearful, knocking on the doors of strangers. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's safe. I'm OK with the kids kicking a ball around, or playing on the trampoline, but leaving our yard makes me nervous.

I went to Walmart with Michael after school today, because the Walmart fairies have just turned our ordinary Walmart into a Superstore. I was pleasantly shocked that I could get all the party food there.

Next time I am bored, I am going to go there and just people watch. We saw some doozies today. Not as interesting as the People of Walmart, but interesting.

I kept having to try and avoid colliding into a linebacker-proportioned black lady talking on the cell phone but not watching where she was walking. I don't know why she was in there because she had no merchandise and wasn't even looking at merchandise. There was also a blonde black lady who had on skintight denim shorts and furry boots. It was 80 degrees outside today. She had a toddler with her. I wanted to snatch the child and run. There was a family of daddy whose pants were sagging on his butt so bad I couldn't believe he could walk, along with mama who looked like, well, a streetwalker, with a lot of metal in her face though, and two cute kids - there again, I wanted to call DFACS.

Then in the candy aisle there were three teenaged girls who obviously go to catholic school because they had on the plaid skirts and white blouses, but they all talked like they were from California, and they looked sort of like they stepped out of a video shoot for some sleazy movie called Naughty Schoolgirls or something.. hmmm....

But hey, at least we didn't encounter any criminals running through the store. Good thing, because unlike my brother I don't carry concealed. My plan in the event of being taken hostage by a criminal is to cry and wet my pants. I have those skills.

I am trying to find my son a blue blazer to wear when he gets baptized next weekend. We go to a very informal little church but I want him to look nice for once. (I just hemmed his black dress pants today. Sewing is like riding a bike, I never lose that skill. I can't ride a bike any more, though..) I can't afford to just go buy one. I am surveying my local friends and even emailed some of my cousins, in hopes of finding a decent blazer some teenager has outgrown. Right now Mike is 5'3 and weighs about 110, so he wears small men's clothes. I don't want to just get something at Goodwill because I don't be able to wash it. I always wash everything I get at Goodwill - I am a third generation germaphobe...

Oh, BTW, in the Episcopal church we don't do full immersion baptism, we sprinkle.

Stay tuned for more crab adventures tomorrow.

Personal Stories

Today was probably the best Sunday School class I have ever attended, by far. Michael and I were running late and I went barreling into the parish hall and stopped in astonishment. Our usual 8-12 people had grown and there were probably 30 people sitting there, chairs in a giant circle. I had completely forgotten, but we were starting a new program.

My church is so tiny, all the adults just gather in the parish hall for Sunday School. Breaking down into smaller groups would be sort of silly. So we do "seminars" sort of, for a few weeks or months.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the church. So it's the Jubilee year, and Sunday School reflects that. For the next several Sundays, in class, different parishioners are sharing their stories about how St. Bede's has transformed their lives. Today, we heard from 3 people who have been members of the church for a long time.

There is something fascinating and compelling about sitting in a group and listening to people tell stories of important events in their lives. The whole experience was fascinating.

The first speaker, I'll call Mr. S, is from South Carolina originally, and I could tell from his accent. He is 88 years old, and sharp as a tack. He told about living through the Depression and working very hard to make his own money for college, starting at 12 years old, delivering newspapers. He had no religious instruction as a child, but found God when he was in the Pacific in World War II, and his ship nearly sunk. Back then, servicemen were given a tiny New Testament, small enough to fit easily in their pocket. He started reading it, found comfort, and started his spiritual journey. When he got home, after 4 years at war, his girlfriend had waited for him and they got married. She was a staunch Episcopalian and steered him the same way. He spoke about the early days of the church, but the personal part of his story was most fascinating. At one point he choked up, talking about his ordeal in the Pacific.

The other two speakers were also very impressive, but neither was quite as interesting as Mr. S, in my book.

Our handout contained a number of interesting quotes, but here is one that has resonated with me all day. It's from Alice Walker, who wrote The Color Purple:

Tell the truth, have you ever found God in a church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, except for Michael and Colton's antics late this afternoon. I won't go into details, but they were horsing around at one of the neighbor's houses, and Michael got chewed out.

13, 14, or 15 are all hard ages. You're not a kid, but you're not an adult either. You don't have a rule book for how to act. I remember getting into some huge disputes in those years. I was frustrated and at loose ends. I couldn't wait to grow up.

On a completely different note, I have a feeling of optimism about this week, and my job situation. Y'all pray for me, or keep praying...